BX5995,W34N67  1858 
Norton,  JohaiN.,  1820-1881 
Life  of  Bishop  Wainwright. 


PUBLISHED 


BY 


THE  COXTRIBUTIOXS  OF  FRIEXDS, 


AJSTD 


CHlirni  0f  tlu  SunJiiiii  StiJool, 


OF    THE 


MEMORIAL    CHURCH 


NK\V    YORK. 


V. 


^ 


TO 

ALEXANDER  HOSACK,  M.D., 

or 

THE    CITY    OF   NEW   TOEK, 

'vrao, 

FOE     MORE     THAN     THIRTY     YEARS, 

■WAS   AilOXG 

gisboj  Maiittorigl]t's  toiirnust  Irienbs, 

AND, 
FOR  A  GREAT  PART  OF  THAT  TIME, 

AND 

WHOSE   PRIVILEGE   IT   WAS   TO   STAXD   BY  THE   HALLOWED 
BED-SIDE    OF 

THIS      LITTLE      MEMORIAL 
IS   INSCRIBED. 


Patriots  inforraed  -witli  Apostolic  liglLt 

Were  they  who,  when  their  country  had  hcsen  freed. 

Bowing  with  reverence  to  the  ancient  creed, 

Fixed  on  the  frame  of  England's  Church  their  sight. 

And  strove  in  filial  love  to  reunite 

What  force  had  severed.      Thence  they  fetched  the 

Beed 
Of  Christian  unity,  and  won  a  meed 
Of  praise  from  Heaven.     To  thee,  O  saintly  White  ! 
Patriarch  of  a  wide-spreading  family, 
Remotest  lands  and  unhorn  times  shall  turn — 
Whether  they  would  restore  or  huild — to  thee. 
As  one  who  rightly  taught  how  zeal  should  hurn — 
As  one  who  drew  from  out  faith's  holiest  urn 
The  purest  stream  of  patient  energy. 

Wordsworth. 


PREFACE. 


The  writer  is  disposed  to  think  that  the  life  of  Bishop 
Wainwright  will  prove  one  of  the  most  interesting  vol- 
umes of  the  series,  especially  to  his  young  readers — for 
the  simple  reason  that  he  has  been  able  to  collect  STich 
abundant  materials  concerning  the  early  days  of  this 
good  man.  In  the  case  of  some  of  those  Prelates  who 
have  long  been  dead,  this  has  proved  a  hopeless  task. 

It  would  be  esteemed  a  great  favor,  if  any  person  hav- 
ing in  their  possession  interesting  facts  connected  with 
the  life  of  Bishops  Croes,  Provoost,  Moore,  of  New-York, 
Jarvis,  and  Bowen,  would  send  them  to  the  writer,  to  be 
interwoven  with  what  he  has  already  gathered  for  the 
biographies  of  these  honored  servants  of  God. 

He  also  avails  himself  of  this  opportunity  to  say  that 
he  has  been  encouraged  by  the  almost  universal  appro- 
bation which  this  series  has  met  with,  to  enlarge  his 
plan,  which  will  embrace  (should  the  season  of  labor 
last  long  enough)  the  more  prominent  of  the  English 
Bishops,  from  the  days  of  Cranmer  and  Latimer,  down 
to  the  present  time. 

May  Ist^  1853. 


CONTENTS. 


*'  Such  good  comraunion  sermons" — A  discourse,  better  than  any 
in  the  published  vohime  The  polished  pulpit  orator— Begin- 
ning at  the  beginning — "Who  Bishop  Wainwright's  parents 
were,  and  something  about  his  maternal  grandfather — The  in- 
verted mitre,  which  was  to  be  turned  right  side  up  again — Mr. 
"Wainwright  removes  from  Boston  to  Liverpool  —  His  three 
children — Jonathan  first  sent  to  school — Eemoval  to  one  of  a 
higher  grade — The  secret  of  his  early  attachment  for  the  Church 
— "What  faithful  sponsors  might  do 13 

d)a})  trr   Scco  ttD. 

Mr.  "Wainwright  returns  to  Boston— Condition  of  the  young  Ee- 
public — Jonathan  sent  to  school — A  letter  to  his  godmother — 
The  youthful  hero  pours  out  the  vials  of  his  wrath  upon  Napo- 
leon—Old England  by  no  means  forgotten — A  mine  of  boyish 
letters  discovered— The  first  communication  after  the  holydays 
— Dutiful  expressions  of  affection— The  old  hat — Disappearance 
of  a  five-dollar  bill — Contentment — The  frank  and  noble-spirit- 
ed man  in  embryo 21 

€:f)apter   2rf)irU. 

The  school-boy's  little  world— Exhibition  of  oratory— A  country 
justice— Quite  a  different  subject — A  great  awakening- Sailing 
in  the  fog— Unhappy  divisions — Doctrine  of  depravity — Mr. 
Clapp's  two  sermons  to  be  printed— Zeal  and  persecution — 
Shifting  like  a  weather-cock— The  Ninth  Article  of  Eeliglon — 
Peter's  additional  information  concerning  the  revival  —  Mr. 
Burr'a  proposed  fast 29 

©fiaptcr   Jfourtf). 

The  last  remnant  of  negro  slavery  in  Massachusetts— Old  Titus's 
will— A  clock  for  the  meeting-house  steeple— The  English  boy 
Americanized — Peter's  ward  robe  troubles -A  fierce  attack  upon 
Mr.  Jefferson— Electioneering  for  Christopher  Gore — O  tempo- 
ra,  O  mores!— Another  indication  of  future  character — Studies 
daring  the  vacation — Two  new  preachers— An  apt  simile 36 


CONTENTS. 


Preparations  for  college — Expensive  letter — Proposal  for  a  re- 
moval, and  reasons  for  the  same — Good  resolutions — Encour- 
aging evidences — An  elder  brother's  advice — Politeness— Cl!.,s- 
sieal  studies — General  information  —  Excuse  for  lecturing — 
Hearttelt  prayer — A  clarionet — Eegard  for  a  father's  prefer- 
ences—General Nox's  march 44 

One  more  juvenile  epistle— Prosperity  in  business  -  Cousm  Henry 
— "Blood  and  groats"  —  Beauty,  weighed  in  the  scale  with 
other  qualities — Worth  of  a  good  wife — Young  Wainwright 
enters  Harvard  University — Brief  sketch  of  the  history  of  ihis 
venerable  institution — Orthodox  inscriptions  on  the  old  college 
seals — Danger  of  departing  from  the  old  paths— The  gradual 
advances  of  Unitarianism— "What  churchmen  should  do— Col- 
lege life — The  young  organist — Takes  a  degree,  and  is  elected 
to  an  honorable  post — "  I  never  knew  a  better  reader" 51 

A  student  of  law — This  pursuit  soon  abandoned — Thoughts  turn- 
ed to  the  ministrj' — Feebleness  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  in 
New  England— Unitarianism  ~  Dr.  Gardiner — An  outline  of  his 
life— Beginning  of  his  ministry— Call  to  Boston  Dr.  Jarvis  be- 
comes Eector  of  St.  Paul's— The  window  blinds — "  Truly  the 
light  is  sweet"— Oddities— Champion  of  orthodoxy— Christmas 
sermon  in  ISIO — Characteristic  extract — Dr.  Gardiner's  death 
— Mr.  Wainwright  visits  New  Jersey — Ordained  Deacon — En- 
trance upon  a  great  work 59 


9 


Eemoval  to  Hartford— Ordained  Priest,  and  instituted  Eector  of 
Christ  Church — Marriage  — Zealous  in  good  works — Interest  in 
Sunday  schools  and  missions — Eeport  of  an  eye-witness — Al- 
most a  rural  parish — Dr.  Brownell  becomes  Bishop  of  Connec- 
ticut—Mr. Wainwright  «hosen  an  Assistant  Minister  of  Trinity 
Church— New  labors,  in  a  larger  field — Accepts  the  Eectorsliip 
of  Grace  Churcli — Brief  notice  of  its  history — Doctor  in  Divin- 
ity—Pastoral duties — Lent  lectures — Catechising 67 

€:f)aptcr   Kintfi. 

Additional  particulars  about  pastoral  labor — Interest  in  Sunday 
School — Importance  of  a  good  Sunday  School  library — A  Par- 
ish Scliooltliirty-four  years  ago— The  Church  waking  up — Zeal 
for  missions — Measures  wliich  were  almost  suspected  of  being 
wrong— Church  music -Something  about  choirs  and  congre- 
gational singing — Malibran  at  Grace  Church — Scene  at  a  way- 
8i<le  tavern — '"  Brother  Henshaw,  do  pray  with  us  !" — The  po- 
tency of  the  spirit  of  prayer '. » -5 


CONTENTS.  XI 


Chapter   Etnt\f.  p^bb 

Eemoval  to  Boston — Trinity  Church — Welcomed  by  old  friends 
— The  decaying  parish  revived — A  new  organ — Visit  to  Eng- 
land—The pastor's  memory  cherished  by  his  floclc— Letters  to 
his  sons— Great  London— Sight-seeing — Large  dogs,  and  small 
donlceys — Beautiful  parks — Grand  review  of  troops— The  Duke 
of  Wellington's  dinner  to  the  King— Sight  of  the  gold  ami  sil- 
ver plate  -Lords  and  ladies — Good  manners— House  of  Lords 
— The  king's  horses  and  carriages — Many  things  untold 84 

€:t)a|itcr    Hlrbrntl). 

Letter  from  8hefBeld — Visits  the  manufactories  —  Penknives — 
■  Dublin — Edinburgh — Sight  of  grf^at  men — Churches  and  castles 
— Largest  organ  in  the  world — Parting  advice — Two  reasons 
for  publishing  these  letters — A  letter  from  Boston — All  well — 
Improvemenfof  present  privileges — Making  one's  way  in  the 
world — Presents  from  Europe—"  The  value  of  money" 92 

€:l)apter   ^TtDeUt!). 

A  little  circumstance — Anxiety  of  parents— Gentle  reproof— Wise 
maxim — Promptness  essential  to  a  mierchaiit's  success — The 
comforts  of  old  age  to  be  provided  for  in  youth — No  assurance 
of  long  life — Tlie  duty  of  an  elder  brother  towards  a  younger 
— Legible  handwriting — Lessons  of  experience — Watchfulness 
over  one's  temper — The  disagreements  of  brothers     100 

®t)a43tcr   2r!)irtecntt). 

The  young  midshipman — A  beautiful  letter — Pules  for  an  officer 
to  iive  by — The  only  way  in  which  they  can  be  carried  out — 
Time  for  reading  the  Bil)le,  and  for  prayer — Importance  of  a 
journal — A  place  among  honored  names — Call  to  return  to  New 
York — Final  decision — The  work  of  seventeen  years— Public 
trusts — The  world  of  science  and  art — The  secret  of  being  able 
to  accomplish  much—  Patience  at  interruption 107 

Cfjaptev    J?ourtccTit|). 

The  mild  and  gentle  man  shows  that  he  has  the  nerve  and  firm- 
ness of  a  hero  -  The  New  England  Society  and  Mr.  Ch6ate"s 
oration — Rapturous  applause— The  interpretation  which  Dr. 
Wainwright  put  upon  it— Dr.  Potts"  challenge^The  controver- 
sy and  its  results— More  peai^eful  themes — Young  ladies'  class 
— Sermon  full  of  comfort — Whooping-cough  late  in  life — The 
physician's  veto  on  labor — Liberality  of  Trinity  to  her  minis- 
ters— Another  and  a  longer  visit  abroad 115 

ejaptcr    jTfftefntf). 

N.'itural  desire  to  visit  the  Holy  Land — The  feelings  with  which 
Dr.  Wainwright  wenttliither — The  ships  of  the  desert — Mount- 
ing the  camel — Difference  between  a  canael  and  a  dromedary — 
Travelling  saddle — Prayer  carpet — Many  different  postures  in 


Xll  CONTENTS. 


Page 
the  saddle— Threatening:  to  bite — The  camel's  complaints — A 
necessary  caution — Fatigues  of  travelling— The  cunning  drag- 
oman— Arrival  at  Jerusalem— Good  Friday— Bishop  Gobat — 
Departure— Sad  and  thoughtful  moment 123 

(iftlinptcr    Sfptccntfj. 

At  home  again — Another  call  to  go  abroad — A  jubilee — A  dele- 
gation sent  to  England — Well  deserved  degree— A  far  higher 
honor,  still — Dr.  Wainwright  elected  Bishop — His  consecration, 
and  the  sanguine  hopes  inspired — A  man  of  sixty  doing  more 
work  than  the  vigor  of  youth  could  safely  undertake— Symp- 
toms of  serious  derangement  in  the  system— Friendly  expostu- 
lations— The  labors  of  two-and-twenty  months — Visit  to  Troy.  132 

€:f)aj)tei'   Scienter ntli. 

Last  public  ministratioijs — Haverstraw — Kind  interest  in  little 
children — Sunday  morning  and  the  several  duties  of  that  day — 
Chilliness— A  good  night's  rest  and  an  early  start— The  danger 
by  no  means  past — Last  act  of  business— Eislng  from  a  sick  bed, 
to  attend  a  meeting  of  the  Sunday  School  Union — Becomes  sud- 
denly and  alarmingly  ill — The  stupor  of  disease— "  My  beloved, 
you  are  going  to  be  with  Jesus" — The  full  assurance  of  hope 
— Falling  asleep  in  Jesus 140 

©:i)a|)tcr    Sffllitrcittt). 

The  funeral— Old  Trinity  draped  in  black— Multitude  of  mourn- 
ers—Order of  the  service,  and  those  who  officiated— Dr.  Hig- 
bee's  address — The  music— '■  I  know  that  my  Kedeemer  liveth" 
— The  body  borne  to  its  resting-place — The  sacred  privacy  of 
grief  left  undisturbed— Tinted  sunbeams  falling  upon  the  dark- 
ened altar — Gate  of  Paradise 143 

Cliaptcr   Ninetcenti). 

Outline  of  character — Love  of  home — The  good  son,  loving  broth- 
er, tender  husband,  and  affectionate  Ihtlier — An  accomplished 
gentleman— Refined  and  cultivated  tastes— Genial,  social  man 
— Generosity  and  magnanimity — Meek  and  retiring  Christian 
— Pulpit  orator — The  text  suggested  by  Daniel  Webster — Able 
to  turn  his  hand  to  any  work— His  special  mission — The  man 
who  could  not,  possibly,  be  spared 156 

Cljapter    STtoc  it  tieti). 

proposed  monument — Dead,  yet  speaking — A  great  enterprise 
undertaken  by  those  most  likely  to  accomplish  it — An  import- 
ant circular — An  earlier  period — The  little  band  of  churchmea 
at  the  "Bleecker  Building"— What  they  resolved  to  do,  and 
how  they  kept  their  pledge — Free  seats  for  all— Bishop  Wain- 
wright's  last  Confirmation  in  the  city— Special  etforfs  for  se- 
curing a  church  building — The  result— A  glorious  Easter — Free 
from  debt — Consecration  of  the  Memorial  Church — Dr.  Mor- 
gan's sermon— Pleasant  incident — A  list  of  names  which  will 
be  of  interest  hereafter 165 


LIFE 


OF 


BISHOP    WAIN  WRIGHT. 


€\}ii^itt  lirst. 

"such     good     communion     sermons" A     DISCOURSE, 

BETTER  THAN  ANY  IN  THE  PUBLISHED  VOLUME — THE 
POLISHED  PULPIT  ORATOR — BEGINNING  AT  THE  BEGIN- 
NING— WHO  BISHOP  WAINWRIGHt's  PARENTS  WERE, 
AND   SOMETHING  ABOUT  HIS   MATERNAL  GRANDFATHER 

THE   INVERTED    MITRE,    "V^HICH    WAS    TO    BE    TURNED 

EIGHT    SIDE     UP     AGAIN ME.    WAIN  WEIGHT    REMOTES 

FROM    BOSTON    TO    LIVERPOOL HIS    THREE    CHILDREN 

JONATHAN     FIRST     SENT     TO    SCHOOL REMOVAL   TO 

ONE  OF  A  HIGHER  GRADE THE    SECRET    OF    HIS    EARLY 

ATTACHMENT     FOR    THE     CHURCH WHAT     FAITHFUL 

BPONSOES    MIGHT   DO. 

THE  first  Communion  Sunday  after  the 
writer's  matriculation  as  a  student  of  the 
General  Theological  Seminary,  a  friend,  who 

2 


14  LIFE   OF   BISHOP    WAIN  WRIGHT. 


is  now  li  faithful  minister  of  the  Gospel,^  said 
to  him,  "Let  ns  go  to  St.  John's  Chapel 
this  morning.  The  Sacrament  will  be  ad- 
ministered, and  Dr.  Wainwright  always 
preaches  such  good  Communion  sermons." 

We  went,  accordingly,  and  the  anticipa- 
tions excited  by  the  promise  of  my  fellow- 
student  were  more  than  fulfilled. 

It  was  my  privilege  to  hear  the  Doctor 
preach  many  times  afterwards,  and  always 
with  pleasure  and  profit.  I  may  be  a  poor 
judge,  but  my  impression  is,  that  a  sermon 
which  he  delivered,  one  Sunday  morning,  in 
the  Church  of  the  Ascension,  ]^ew  York, 
from  the  words,  '^Because  thou  hast  seen  me, 
thou  hast  believed  /  blessed  are  they  that  have 
not  seen^  and  yet  have  helieved^^  (St.  John  xx. 
29),  is  superior  to  any  in  the  collection  pub- 
lished since  his  death. 

I    cannot  refrain  from   giving  the  experi- 

■^"  His  faithfulness  may  be  known  from  the  fact  that  ho 
has  a  Sunday  School  numbering  four  hundred  pupils. 


POLISHED   PULPIT    ORATOR.  ll 


ence  of  another,  thus  happily  expressed 
"  We  well  remember  our  sensations  when,  ii 
our  Seminary  days,  we  first  heard  Dr.  Wain 
Wright  preach.  It  was  in  St.  Thomas's 
Church,  'New  York.  A  stranger  in  a  strange 
city,  knowing  nothing  of  its  churches  or  rec- 
tors, we  had  no  idea  who  the  preacher  was, 
but  were  perfectly  captivated  by  what  we 
heard.  In  manner  and  matter ;  in  the  polish 
and  perfection  of  its  style  ;  in  the  soundness  of 
its  doctrine,  and  in  the  grace  of  its  delivery, 
it  seemed  to  us  a  sermon  complete  in  every 
respect — the  first  faultless  one  we  had  ever 
heard.  When  a  fellow-student  informed  us 
afterwards  that  we  had  been  listening  to  the 
celebrated  Dr.  Wainwright,  we  readily  sub- 
scribed to  the  common  judgment  concern- 
ing his  pulpit  powers.""^ 

It  often  happens  when  a  biographer  at- 
tempts to  sketch  the  life  of  one  who  has  flour- 

ir 

<»  Editorial  in  Banner  of  the  Cross,  Oct.  30,  1856. 


16  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WAINWRIGHT. 


ished  in  his  own  time,  and  with  whose  ap- 
pearance and  manners  and  habits  many 
living  witnesses  have  been  famihar,  that  he 
is  placed  in  awkw^ard  circumstances,  being 
anxions  to  keep  some  unpleasant  peculiarities 
in  the  background,  and  yet  fearing  to  do  so 
lest  the  charge  of  unfairness  miglit  be  pre- 
ferred. 

In  the  case  of  the  honored  servant  of  God 
whose  deeds  are  now  to  be  recorded,  there  is 
no  such  painful  embarrassment.  He  needed 
only  to  be  seen  and  known  as  he  really  was, 
to  be  universally  honored  and  loved. 

Jonathan  Mayhew  Wainwkight  was  born 
in  Liverpool,  England,  on  the  '24th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1792.  His  father,  Peter  Wainwright, 
was  an  English  merchantj  who  had  removed 
to  Boston  not  long  after  the  War  of  Inde- 
pendence, and  established  himself  in  busi- 
ness. Here  he  married  Elizabeth,  daughter 
of  Dr.  Jonathan  Mayhew,  a  distinguished 
Congregational  minister  (tinctured,  however, 


INVERTED    MITRE.  17 


with  Socinian  views),  and  a  fierce  opponent 
of  Episcopacy,  who  had  borne  a  conspicuous 
part  in  endeavoring  to  prevent  the  consecra- 
tion of  Bishops  for  the  Church  in  America. 
Archbishop  Seeker  was  his  antagonist  in  this 
controversy. 

An  anecdote,  related  by  a  venerable  Pres- 
byter, still  spared  to  the  Church  which  he 
has  served  so  long,  illustrates  well  the  rela- 
tion which  Dr.  Mayhew  held  towards  the 
Church,  and  sheds  a  half-prophetic  ray  upon 
his  grandson's  course. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Eaton,  now  more  than  forty 
years  ago,  was  dining  with  a  friend  at  Cam- 
bridge. In  the  room  was  a  portrait  of  Dr. 
Mayhew,  with  an  inverted  mitre  in  one  cor- 
ner. "  What  a  pity,"  said  the  guest,  "  that 
Dr.  Mayhew  should  have  felt  such  enmity 
towards  the  Church,  as  to  have  a  mitro  up- 
side down  inserted  in  his  portrait !"  "  Oh, 
well,"  said  the  lady  of  the  house,  "  perhaps 
his    grandson.    Jonathan   Wainwright,   may 

2* 


18  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WAIN  WRIGHT. 


turn  it  back  again."  "  And  wear  it  himself," 
said  Dr.  Eaton,  happily.  The  grandson  had 
then  lately  graduated  at  Harvard  University, 
and  had  no  thought  of  entering  the  min- 
istry."* 

Mr.  Wainwright  had  returned  to  England, 
and  was  in  business  in  Liverpool,  when  his 
three  children  were  born.  And  thus  it  came 
to  pass  that  the  future  Bishop  of  'New  York, 
born  within  the  bosom  of  the  mother  Church, 
and  transferred,  at  an  early  age,  to  the  foster- 
ing care  of  the  daughter,  in  America,  was, 
in  fact,  a  connecting  link  between  the  two, 
and  cherishing,  through  all  his  life,  as  it  was 
most  natural  he  should,  the  warmest  love  for 
both. 

Bishop  Wainwright's  father  was  a  devoted 
Churchman,  while  his  mother  held  the  theo- 
logical views  of  her  Puritan  ancestors.  She 
was  a  woman  of  uncommon  intellectual  abil- 

*"  Memoir  by  Bishop  Doane,  p.  24. 


INTLTJENCE  OF  TEACHER  AND  GODMOTHER.    19 


ties  and  a  fine  poetic  taste,  and  lier  conver 
sational  powers  might  be  truly  described  as 
'brilliant. 

Jonathan  was  the  eldest  child.  The 
daughter,  Eliza,  who  married  Dr.  Walter 
Channing,  an  eminent  physician  of  Boston, 
is  deceased.  Peter,  the  younger  son,  is  liv- 
ing still,  respected  and  beloved. 

Jonathan  was  first  sent  to  a  primary  school 
in  Liverpool,  tanght  by  the  daughters  of  Mr. 
Lewin,  a  dissenting  preacher  of  that  city. 
When  sufficiently  grounded  in  the  rudiments 
of  learning,  he  was  placed  at  the  school  of 
the  Kev.  Mr.  Hughes,  a  clergyman  of  the 
English  Church  at  Kuthven,  in  ^N^orth  Wales. 

The  instruction  and  example  of  this  good 
man  first  led  him  to  love  the  Church.  No 
doubt  this  feeling  of  attachment  was  strength- 
ened by  the  influence  of  his  godmother, 
Mrs.  Hartwell,  with  whom  his  holydays  were 
often  spent  at  Holyhead. 

How  many  thousand   children  might  be 


20  LIFE   OF   BISHOP    WAINWRIGIIT. 


trained  up  in  religion's  pleasant  and  peaceful 
ways,  ay,  what  multitudes  of  promising 
youtlis  might  have  their  thoughts  directed  to 
the  ministry  of  the  Church,  if  those  who 
stand  as  sponsors  for  them  in  holy  Baptism 
would  faithfully  discharge  their  trust ! 


ME.    WAINTTEIGHT    EETTJRXS    TO    BOSTON — COXDITIOX    OF 

THE  TOUXG   EEPUBLIC — JOXATHAX    SEXT    TO  SCHOOL 

A  LETTER  TO  HIS  GODMOTHER — THE  YOUTHFUL  HERO 
POURS  OUT    THE  VIALS  OF  HIS  WRATH  UPOX   NAPOLEON 

OLD    ENGLAND    BY   NO    MEANS    FORGOTTEN A   MINE 

OF  BOYISH  LETTERS  DISCOVERED THE  FIRST  COMMU- 
NICATION AFTER  THE  HOLYDAYS DUTIFUL  EXPRES- 
SIONS   OF   AFFECTION THE  OLD  HAT — DISAPPEAEANOE 

OF  A   FIVE-DOLLAR   BILL CONTENTMENT THE    FRANK 

AND  NOBLE-SPIRITED  MAN  IN  EMBRYO. 


I 


j^  1803  Mr.  TTainwriglit  returned  to  Amer- 
ica, and  brought  his  family  with  him. 
Jonathan  was  then  eleven  years  old.  The 
little  English  boy  now  began  his  career 
among  the  stirring  activities  of  the  ISTew 
World. 

The  American  Republic  had  only  attained 
its  twenty-seventh   year,  dating   back   from 


22  ^  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WAINWKIGHT. 


the  period  of  the  Dechxration  of  Independ 
eiice.  Thomas  Jefferson  was  then  President 
of  the  United  States. 

When  Mr.  Wainwright  landed  at  Boston, 
JRobert  Fulton  had  just  completed  his  suc- 
cessful experiments,  and  the  first  steamboat 
had  begun  to  ply  between  I^ew  York  and 
Albany. 

Jonathan  was  sent  to  the  Academy,  at 
Sandwich,  on  Cape  Cod,  the  principal  of 
which  was  Mr.  Elisha  Clapp,  a  distinguished 
J^ew  England  divine,  and  here  he  remained 
until  he  was  prepared  to  enter  college. 

When  about  twelve  years  old,  he  writes  a 
letter  to  his  excellent  godmother,  Mrs.  Hart- 
w^ell,  in  which  we  shall  allow  him  to  speak 
for  himself.  The  spelling  and  punctuation 
are  just  as  they  came  from  his  unpractised 
hand. 

"Sandwich,  August  1st,  1804. 

"Dear  Feiend — I  presume  the  Corsican 
upstart  has  not  yet  performed  his  promise,  in 


LETTER   TO   HIS    GODMOTHER.  23 


comeing,  to  pay  you  a  visit.  I  guess  he  has 
got  quite  sick  of  the  notion  ;  and  I  think,  he 
did  well,  in  not  trying  to  come,  and  steal  our 
good  Old  English  Roast  Beef;  for,  if  he  does, 
he  will  be  sure  to  have  his  head  kicked,  for 
a  foot-ball,  by  the  Brave  English  Yolunteers ; 
and  our  good  old  English  Wooded  "Walls 
would  send  all  his  little  dung  boats,  to  Davy's 
Locker,  very  soon.  But  I  think  there  is  not 
much  danger  of  his  comeing;  for.  Queen 
Ann's  pocket-piece  scares  him,  so,  across  the 
little  ditch,  that,  I  believe,  he  has  given  over 
all  the  notion  of  it.  His  threats  pass  by  us, 
like  the  idle  wind,  which  we  regard  not ;  but, 
on  the  other  hand.  Squire  Dibden,  with  his 
keen  little  songs,  gives  the  little  gentleman 
such  a  shakeing,  that  I  am  afraid  we  shall 
loosen  all  his  joints,  if  he  has  got  any ;  for 
he  is  nothing  but  skin  and  bone.  He  is  not 
like  our  true  English  Tars ;  he  has  no  Eoast 
Beef  and  Plumb  Pudding,  to  make  him  fat ; 
he  lives  upon  nothing  but  frogs   and   soup 


24  LIEE   OF   BISHOP   WAINWRIGHT. 


meagre,  and  a  few  mice,  that  he  and  his 
friend  Tally  catch,  iij)on  the  broken  walls  of 
Aristocracy.  But  I  must  conclude,  as  my 
pen  is  very  bad.  Give  my  love  to  Mrs 
Jackson,  Mr.  Jackson,  Dr.  Lloyd,  John  Geth- 
ing,  and  all  my  friends  there ;  and  tell  J.  G. 
that  the  boat  he  gave  me  exceeds  all  the 
other  boats  here,  in  sailing  and  handsome- 
ness ;  and  that  I  shall  not  know  how  to  re- 
pay his  kindness,  till  Summer.  I  remain 
jour  true  British  friend. 

"JoNATHAiq"   Wain  WEIGHT. 

"P.  S. — Pray  overlook  my  mistakes,  this 
time,  as  I  am  in  such  a  hurry. 

**  Great  Britain,  for  ever, 

For  it  makes  little  Bony  quiver  ; 

Huzza,  huzza. 
Britains,  strike  home  ; 

Huzza,  huzza." 

A  genuine  boyish  letter,  indeed  I   My  young 
readers  cannot  fail  to  be  pleased  with  it. 
When  Bishop  Doane  published  his  beauti- 


ANOTHER    LETTER.  25 


ful  memoir  of  his  beloved  friend,  lie  was  un- 
der the  impression  that  only  two  of  these 
early  epistles  had  been  preserved.  By  dili- 
gent inquiries  among  Bishop  Wainwright's 
friends,  the  writer  has  fortunately  succeeded 
in  discovering  several  more,  with  which  his 
pages  will  be  enlivened  and  adorned.  We 
have  no  traces  of  our  young  student  for 
nearly  four  years  after  the  date  of  his  heroic 
letter  to  his  godmother,  which  brings  us 
down  to  the  beginning  of  1808.  During  the 
course  of  this  year  we  have  a  pretty  full  ac- 
count of  himself  from  his  own  pen. 

The  first  letter  in  this  series  has  the  Sand- 
wich postmark  upon  it  (Jan.  11),  and  is  ad- 
dressed to  his  mother.  There  is  a  great  im- 
provement in  it  over  the  one  just  given  ; 
the  penmanship,  spelling,  and  style  being 
decidedly  better. 

"  On  Monday  [he  says],  I  anticipated  the 
pleasure   of  receiving   a  letter  from   home, 

3 


26  LIFE    OF   BISHOP   WAINWRIGHT. 


thinking  it  would  not  only  raise  mj  spirits, 
but  make  me  (as  Bobbins  says  his  do,)  study 
harder.  And  I  found,  when  I  had  read  my 
letter,  that  I  was  not  as  I  often  am  disap- 
pointed, by  raising  my  expectations  too  higli. 
"  You  will  say,  that  it  is  a  fault  to  raise  one's 
expectations  too  high,  but  it  is  a  fault  which 
1  believe  few  young  people,  in  the  flow  of 
health  and  spirits,  are  able  to  guard  against. 
Especially,  as  in  the  early  period  of  life,  we 
do  not  commonly  meet  with  those  rubs 
which  arc  incident  to  humanity,  and  which 
teach  us  that  perfect  happiness  is  no  more  to 
be  found  in  this  world  than  perfect  men.  I 
believe  that  parents,  too,  when  they  have 
children  on  whom  they  have  bestowed  ^  a 
world  of  pains  and  trouble,'  are  apt  to  raise 
their  expectations  too  high  ;  and  indeed  they 
have  reason,  for  '  where  a  man  soweth,  there 
also  shall  he  reap.'  I  shall  endeavor,  dear 
Mother,  that  your  liarvest  may  be  a  joyful 
me.     I  wish  it  would  always  be  your  inten- 


LOSS    OF   HAT   AND   BILL.  g'T 


tion  in  your  letters,  to  sermonize.  'For  it  is 
the  only  way  in  which  I  can  now  reteive 
those  valuable  counsels  which,  at  home,  I 
have  from  your  own  mouth.-  My  old  hat 
was  lost  or  stolen  at  Plymouth.  I  saw  it  put 
with  the  rest  of  the  baggage,  just  before  it 
was  placed  in  the  stage,  and  thinking  it  was 
safe,  I  went  in  to  pay  the  reckoning,  and  did 
not  miss  the  hat  till  I  got  to  Sandwich. 

"I  desired  Maynard  to  enquire,  but  he  could 
hear  nothing  of  it.  The  evening  that  I  ar- 
rived here,  I  paid  Mr.  Tobey  for  our  board, 
and  there  was  left  three  five-dollar  bills, 
which  I  23ut  in  my  pocket-book.  I  did  not 
open  it  again  till  the  next  day  to  pay  him, 
and  then  I  found  but  two  fives. 

"  We  shall  have  as  much  as  we  shall  want 
till  we  return,  as  there  is  no  need  of  spend- 
ing anything  of  consequence  here. 

"  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tobey's,  and  Mr.  Clap's  re- 
spects to  you.  Our  love  to  Pa,  Eliza,  and  all 
friends,  and  receive  the  tender  of  your  son, 


28  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WAINWEIGHT. 


J.  M.  Wain  Wright's  lasting  love   and   affec- 
tion." 


From  internal  evidence,  we  may  fairly 
conclude  that  this  letter  was  written  after  his 
return  from  Boston,  where,  most  j^robably, 
his  Christmas  holydays  had  been  spent.  It 
breathes  the  frank,  affectionate  spirit  of  a 
noble  youth,  a  spirit  which  always  distin- 
guished our  hero  through  the  whole  of  life. 


i 


C|Hjtn   (ffljirh 


THE    SCHOOL-BOY  8    LITTLE  WOELD EXHIBITION   OF  GEA- 

TOEY A  COUXTEY    JUSTICE — QUITE  A  DIFFEEENT  SUB- 
JECT  A    GEEAT  AWAKENING — SAILING    IN    THE    FOG 

UNHAPPY     DIVISIONS DOCTEINE    OF     DEPEAVITY ME. 

CLAPP'S  TWO  SEEMONS  TO  BE  FEINTED ZEAL  AND  PEE- 

SECUTION SHIFTING    LIKE    A    WEATHEE-COCK THE 

NINTH    AETICLE    OF    EELIGION PETEE's    ADDITIONAL 

INFOEMATION  CONCEKNING   THE   EEYIVAL — ME.  BUEE's 
PROPOSED  FAST. 

1]^  the  eyes  of  a  school-boy,  the  little 
every-day  events  within  his  own  narrow 
circle  loom  up  as  largely  as  the  most  im- 
portant transactions  on  the  broad  theatre  of 
life. 

During  the  month  of  February,  1808,  the 
young  orators  of  the  Sandwich  Academy 
made  an  exhibition  of  their  powers  before 
an  admiring   audience.     The  future   Bishop 

3* 


30  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WAIN  WEIGHT. 


of  the  Church  thus  alludes  to  this,  in  the  fol- 
lowing epistle  : 

"  Sandwich,  February  2Sih,  1808. 

"Dear  Sister — I  am  really  very  much 
obliged  to  you  for  writing  me  the  poem  so 
finely  delineating  the  virtues  of  Birch,  and 
am  very  sorry  it  came  so  late  (the  day  after 
our  Exhibition),  or  I  should  have  been  glad 
to  have  had  it  for  a  piece.  We  had  a  very 
full  house  at  Exhibition,  almost  overflowing. 
The  audience,  I  believe,  were  very  well 
pleased  with  the  performances.  Peter  spoke 
the  character  of  William  Pitt.  I  had  a  Latin 
Oration,  Gray's  elegy  written  in  a  country 
church  yard,  '  The  curfew  tolls  the  knell  of 
parting  day,'  &c. — and  a  part  in  a  dialogue 
called  the  Country  JuBtice.  I,  with  my 
feather  belly,  personified  his  worship.  [My 
readers  can  picture  Jonathan  to  themselves, 
with  a  pillow  buttoned  up  under  his  coat,  to 
convey  the  impression  of  magisterial  corpu- 
lence.] 


A   GKEAT   AWAKENING.  31 


"  My  Mother  tells  me  that  Miss  Kingman 
is  paying  you  a  visit.  You  must  make  my 
respects. 

"  Your  affectionate  brother  and  true  friend, 
"  J.  M.  Wain  WEIGHT." 

The  same  sheet  contains  a  few  lines  ad- 
dressed to  his  mother,  in  which  quite  a  differ- 
ent subject  is  introduced.  It  would  seem 
that  the  plan  of  getting  up  excitements,  in 
order  to  terrify  people  int6  being  religious, 
was  then  in  vogue.  The  evils  of  such  a  sys- 
tem had  not  been  as  fully  developed  as  they 
were  some  years  afterwards. 

"  You  have  heard  [he  remarks]  that  there 
has  been  a  great  awakening  in  the  neighbor- 
ing town,  and  it  is  now  approaching  us.  Mr. 
Burr  is  very  much  engaged  in  it.  He  has 
talked  to  me  once  or  twice  about  it,  but  I 
can't  convince  myself  one  way  or  the  other. 
He  read  to  me,  or  rather  told  me  to  read  the 
third  chapter  of  John.     It  appears  from  that, 


32  LIFE   OF   BISHOP    WAINWEIGHT. 


that  tliere  must  be  a  regeneration.  And  if  we 
are  naturally  depraved,  as  appears  from  this 
verse,  '  The  heart  is  deceitful,'  &c.,  regenera- 
tion seems  to  be  necessary. 

"Again,  they  say,  'We  are  not  saved  by 
works,  lest  any  man  should  boast,'  but  the 
epistle  of  James  seems  to  remove  that.  But 
I  don't  seem  to  understand  the  3d  chapter 
of  John  very  well.  And  when  I  see  the  two 
sects  of  Christians  so  opposite,  I  do  not  know 
what  to  think.  You  must  write  to  me  about 
it.  Don't  be  afraid  I  am  going  to  be  moved 
by  every  wind  of  doctrine.  But  it  appears 
to  me  that  these  things  ought  not  so  to  be. 
"  Your  son,         J.  M.  Wainweight." 

"We  hardly  need  the  frank  confession  of 
our  young  theologian  to  convince  us,  that 
he  has  not  got  a  very  clear  idea  of  the  im- 
port of  the  beloved  disciple's  words.  He  is 
certainly  right,  however,  in  deploring  the  un- 
happy  divisions    which    separate    Christian 


DOCTEINE    OF   DEPEAVITY.  33 


people.  If  all  tlie  sects  and  parties,  wliicli 
so  distract  the  world  by  their  discordant 
sparrings  about  religious  truth,  could  be  join- 
ed together  (as  God  would  have  them)  in 
one  body,  the  Devil  and  his  votaries  would 
be  forced  to  exclaim,  with  the  apostate  Ju- 
lian, "  O,  Galilean,  thou  hast  conquered !" 

Let  us  all  pray  and  labor,  more  and  more, 
for  peace  !  The  next  letter  in  our  possession, 
by  which  we  are  enabled  to  chronicle  the 
events  at  Sandwich  during  the  year  1808,  is 
dated  the  17th  of  March. 

''  Deae  Mother — Your  last  letter  gave  me 
infinitely  much  satisfaction.  I  had  felt  a 
little  doubtful,  about  the  time  that  I  wrote 
my  first  letter  concerning  the  doctrine  of  de- 
pravity. For  I  could  not  conceive  how 
many  men  could  be  deluded,  and  feel  such 
convictions.  This  doctrine,  if  I  could  swal- 
low it,  I  could  easily  take  down  the  camel- 
like  size  of  the  rest,  bunch  and  all. 


34  LIFE   OF   BISHOP    WAIN  WEIGHT. 


"  But  Mr.  Clap's  sermons,  the  Sunday  be- 
fore last,  set  all  to  rights  again.  There  has 
been  a  paper  out  to  print  them  by  subscrip- 
tion. Kobbins  and  myself  subscribed  for  ten 
copies.  Peter,  also,  subscribed  for  one  copy, 
being  desirous  to  have  his  name  on  the  list. 

"  Is  it  not  the  case  that  those  who  are  the 
most  zealous  for  certain  religious  tenets, 
most  zealously  persecute  those  who  differ 
from  them  ?  This  seems  to  be  the  case  with 
Mr.  Burr,  who,  you  know,  has  shifted  (I  was 
going  to  say  as  often  as  the  weather-cock  of 
his  meeting  house),  and  he  now  seems  to  be 
as,  or  more  zealous  in  forwarding  the  Calvin - 
istic  principles,  than  he  could  be  in  forward- 
ing the  principles  of  any  of  the  numerous 
sects  he  has  embraced.  He  has  not  the  least 
charity  for  anybody  else,  but  says  he  is  cer- 
tain that  he  is  right,  and  you  and  the  rest  of 
us  wrong.     But  he  may  change  again." 

It  is  not  much  to  be  wondered  at,  that  a 


MR.  BrRR's  PROPOSED  FAST.       35 


youth  of  sixteen  should  be  left  pretty  much 
in  the  dark  in  regard  to  the  points  of  doc- 
trine in  dispute  among  the  rival  preachers  to 
whom  he  refers.  But  even  my  youngest 
reader  may  know  what  is  the  teaching  of 
the  Scriptures  and  the  Church  on  the  sub- 
ject of  man's  depravity,  by  turning  to  the 
ninth  Article  of  Religion,  as  laid  down  in  the 
Prayer  Book. 

Jonathan's  younger  brother,  Peter,  who 
was  also  at  school  at  Sandwich,  contributes 
Ms  share  towards  this  letter,  and  gravely  in- 
forms his  mother,  in  a  good,  round  liand, 
tliat  the  religious  meetings  are  continued 
almost  every  night,  and  that  Mr.  Burr  and 
a  few  of  his  friends  had  proposed  2ifast^  but 
that  none  of  the  scholars  attended. 

From  the  date  of  the  epistle,  this  must 
have  been  about  the  time  that  the  Church 
throughout  the  whole  wide  world  was  ob- 
sei'ving  the  solemn  season  of  Lent,  but  per- 
hape  Mr.  Burr  did  not  know  of  this. 


the  last  eemnant  of  negeo  slayery  in  massaonu- 
setts — old  titus's  will a  clock  for  the  meeting- 
house steeple the  english  boy  americanized — 

Peter's  wardrobe  troubles  —  a  fierce  attack 
upon  mr.  jefferson electioneering  foe  christo- 
pher gore — o  tempora  !  o  mores  ! another  indi- 
cation of  future  chaeacter stctdies  during  the 

vacation two  new  preachers an  apt  simile. 

THE  next  letter,  in  order,  contains  an  in- 
teresting account  of  tlie  death  of  an  old 
colored  man,  one  of  the  last  relics  of  negro 
slavery  in  Massachusetts.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered by  my  readers,  that  in  the  early  his- 
tory of  the  Colonies,  this  institution  was  by 
no  means  peculiar  to  the  South. 

"  Sandwich,  March  2m,  1808. 
*'  Deae  Mother — Since  I  wrote  my  last  let- 
ter, old  Titus  has  died.     I  believe  he  has  done 


OLD    TITUS.  37 


his  duty  in  the  world.  He  sprang  from 
nothing,  and  died  possessed  of  fifteen  hun- 
dred dollars,  from  which  (by  his  will) 
there  is  to  be  a  clock  put  on  the  meeting- 
house steeple,  a  monument  to  be  erected 
over  his  tomb,  and  the  remainder  to  be  given 
to  the  parish.  We  see  that  worth  is  not  con- 
fined to  color.  Titus  was  once  a  slave.  He 
was  remarkable  for  firmness.  On  an  election- 
eering day,  when  Mr.  J.  Freeman  was  very 
much  employed  in  gaining  proselytes  to  De- 
mocracy, and  distributing  votes  for  Sullivan, 
Mr.  Davis  asked  him  to  go  and  try  to  turn 
Titus,  and  make  him  vote  for  Sullivan.  Mr. 
Freeman  replied  it  would  be  of  no  more 
use  than  to  endeavor  to  move  the  meeting- 
house. 

"  I  have  taken  up  the  greater  part  of  this 
letter  in  speaking  of  Titus,  having  nothing  in 
particular  to  write  about,  and  thinking  that 
Buch  worth,  so  seldom  found  in  one  of  his 
color,  deserved  some  mention.     Peter  has  no 


38  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WAINWUIGHT. 


letter  prepared,  but  will  answer  yours  soon, 
"  My  love  to  Eliza  and  all  friends. 
"  Your  dutiful  son, 

"J.  M.  Wainweight." 

Jonathan  was  quite  methodical  in  his  cor- 
respondence, and  at  regular  intervals  his 
mother  must  have  felt  quite  sure  of  hearing 
from  him. 

The  following  letter  will  show  that  the  lit- 
tle English  boy  who  wrote  so  patriotically  to 
his  godmother,  about  the  Roast  Beef  and 
Plumb  Pudding  of  his  native  land,  had  by 
this  time  transferred  his  affections  to  the 
country  of  his  adoption.  It  is  an  amusing 
mixture  of  politics  and  some  other  matters 
of  not  quite  so  grave  importance. 

"  Sandwich,  April  dd,  1808. 

"la  little  expected  a  letter  from  my  dear 
Mother  yesterday,  but,  however,  I  shall  wait 
with  patience  till  the  next  post.     My  chief 


Peter's  wardrobe  troubles.  39 


object  in  writing  now  is  to  inform  yon  tliat 
Peter  put  on  his  water-proof  trowsers  yes- 
terday morning,  when,  by  some  unhicky 
accident,  all  the  old  wounds  were  broken 
out  afresh,  and  new  wounds  received,  which 
have  rendered  the  case  desperate,  and  the 
physicians  have  given  the  patient  up  !  This 
morning,  he  put  on  his  other  old  trowsers, 
which  looked  as  if  they  had  just  come  from 
Chelsea  Hospital.  They  were  most  severely 
lacerated  in  a  contest  at  bat  and  ball.  He 
now  has  no  others  to  wear,  except  his  knit 
pantaloons.  I  wish  you  would  write  word 
by  return  of  post,  and  either  send  him  a  pair, 
or  commission  me  to  get  him  some  here.  He 
also  desires  that  he  may  have  sailor's  trow- 
sers. 

"  My  brother  and  self  drank  tea  last  even- 
ing at  Mr.  Paul  King's.  We  had  a  very 
pleasant  visit. 

"I  have  been  electioneering,  and  writing 
votes  for  Christopher  Gore,  &c.,  till  I  am  al- 


4:0  LIFE   OF   BISHOP    WAINWKIGHT. 


most  tired  to  death.  I  shall  rise  again  to- 
morrow, and  go  on  in  the  good  work.  It  is 
time  for  those  that  are  interested  in  the  wel- 
fare of  their  conntiy  to  look  about  them- 
selves. For  it  is  evident  that  if  the  Demo^ 
cratic  faction  are  kept  in  office,  we  shall  be 
ruined,  totally  ruiued. 

"  Is  this  short-sighted  embargo  a  thing 
that  could  be  expected  from  the  pro23hetic, 
philosophic  Jefferson  ?  Is  this  country  to  be 
ruined,  to  gratify  the  caprice  of  selfish,  artful, 
aspiring  Democrats  ?  Are  all  the  fair  pros- 
pects of  our  farmers  and  sailors,  at  once  to 
be  blasted  ?  and  blasted,  too,  by  the  very  men 
who  ought  to  be  the  most  anxious  to  protect 
their  welfare  ?     O  tempora  !  O  mores !" 

And  with  this  eloquent  burst  of  patriotism, 
our  young  friend  closes  his  epistle. 

Notwithstanding  the  opinions  expressed  by 
the  school-boy  politicians  at  Sandwich,  Mr. 
Jefferson  passed  safely  through  his  term  of 


INDICATION    OF   FUTURE   CHARACTER.         41 


office,  and,  by  God's  good  providence,  the 
Kepiiblic  still  survives,  and  bids  fair,  we 
trust,  to  weather  the  storms  of  centuries. 

The  whole  temper  of  the  letter  is  as  natu- 
ral as  possible,  and  no  man  can  read  it  with- 
out a  smile,  as  he  remembers  his  own  excited 
feelings  under  like  circumstances,  when  the 
warm  blood  of  youth  was  coursing  through 
his  veins. 

It  is  pleasant,  too,  to  recognize  in  the  zeal- 
ous advocate  for  the  political  claims  of  Chris- 
topher Gore,  the  same  undaunted  champion 
who  threw  down  the  gauntlet  at  the  New 
England  dinner,  nearly  forty  years  after- 
wards, and  offered  to  measure  arms  with  any 
one  who  would  venture  to  deny  the  lawful 
claims  of  Bishops  in  the  Church  of  God. 

Another  indication,  in  youth,  of  what 
might  be  expected  of  him  in  manhood,  will 
be  found  in  the  letter  dated  May  15th  of 
the  same  year,  when  his  career  at  the  Sand- 
wich Academy  was  drawing  to  a  close.     It  is 

4* 


42  LITE   OF   BISHOP   WArNWKIGHT. 


addressed  to  his   "  dear   and  respected  pa- 
rents." 

No  small  self-control,  and  a  resolution 
which  gives  up  present  pleasure  for  future 
good,  are  disclosed  in  the  opening  sentence. 

"  I  write  now  to  inform  you  that  you  need 
not  expect  me  immediately  at  the  close  of 
this  term.  As  I  have  considerable  to  do,  Mr. 
Clap  thought  it  would  be  better  that  I  should 
not  devote  the  vacation  entirely  to  relaxation, 
but  should  study  part  of  it,  and  he  thought  I 
had  better  not  go  home,  and  study  there,  as 
there  are  so  many  allurements  to  take  off  my 
attention.  That  being  the  case,  I  thought  I 
would  devote  the  first  part  of  the  vacation 
to  study,  and  then  come  home,  and  enjoy 
what  time  I  could  spare,  unembarrassed 
among  my  friends.  I  shall  lose  the  pleasure 
of  being  at  home  on  the  Election,  but  I 
can  easily  sacrifice  it  to  things  more  neces- 
sary. 

"  Peter  will  go  in  the  first  vessel.     I  should 


A^    APT    SIMILE.  4:3 


wisli  to  have  my  clotlies  prepared  as  soon  as 
I  can  in  the  vacation,  for  I  don't  expect  to  be 
able  to  spend  more  than  a  week  at  home. 

"  Mr.  Hyde  of  Lee  preached  for  ns  last 
Sunday.  This  afternoon  we  had  a  Mr.  Os- 
good. He  likened  deists  to  a  man  travelling, 
who,  on  coming  to  a  precipice,  shut  his  eyes, 
thinking  that  by  that  means  he  should  es- 
cape the  danger  of  falling. 

"  My  love  to  sister  and  friends.  I  hope  to 
have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  in  a  fort- 
night.        Your  dutiful  son, 

"  J.  M.  Wainweight." 


PEEPAEATIONS    FOR  COLLEGE EXPENSIVE    LETTER PRO- 
POSED REMOVAL,  AND    REASONS    FOR  THE  SAME GOOD 

RESOLUTIONS ENCOURAGING   EVIDENCES AN    ELDER 

brother's    ADVICE POLITENESS — CLASSICAL    STUDIES 

—  GENERAL    INFORMATION EXCUSE    FOR  LECTURING 

HEARTFELT    PRATER A    CLARIONET — REGARD    FOR    A 

father's  preferences GENERAL  NOX'S  MARCH. 

THE  last  of  June  arrives,  but  our  ambi- 
tious student  is  so  busy  with  his  prep- 
arations for  college,  that  he  still  lingers  at 
Sandwich,  to  enjoy  the  benefit  of  his  old 
master's  instructions. 

"  Sandwich,  Ju7ie  SOth,  1808. 

"  Dear  Mother — Your  letter  of  Friday  last 
was  very  acceptable,  and  gave  me  much 
pleasure.  I  had  been  into  the  post-office, 
and  finding  no  letter  for  me,  I  was  coming 


SAFETY    OF    HOME.  45 


away,  when  I  met  Majiiard,  wlio  told  me 
he  had  one  for  me,  which  I  suppose  you  gave 
to  the  driver  as  he  passed  the  house,  because 
it  came  all  the  way  by  hand.  This  mode  of 
conveying  letters  I  find  is  very  expensive,  as 
I  had  to  give  fifty  cents  for  it ;  when,  if  it 
had  come  by  post,  I  should  have  given  but 
ten. 

"  Mr.  ClajD  says  it  would  be  a  good  plan 
for  you  to  move  to  Cambridge,  and  it  would 
be  very  agreeable  to  me,  not  only  with  re- 
spect to  the  pleasure  I  should  derive  from 
having  your  company,  and  that  of  my  father, 
and  brother,  and  sister,  during  my  residence, 
but  also  with  respect  to  the  assistance  it  will 
afibrd  me  in  keeping  myself  uncorrupted,  as 
1  shall  not  have  every  idle  fellow  calling  into 
my  room,  as  might  be  the  case  if  I  lived  in 
College ;  although  I  mean  (if  I  keep  my 
present  resolutions,  and  I  think  there  is 
no  doubt  I  shall)  to  keep  myself  unspotted 
and  im fined. 


46  LIFE   OF   BISHOP    WAINWKIGHT. 


"  And  I  tliink  I  may  be  of  considerable 
use  to  my  brother  and  sister,  when  I  am 
once  settled,  although  I  have  not  been,  in  any 
of  my  vacations  at  home.  At  any  rate,  I 
hope  it  will  be  convenient  for  you  to  move  to 
Cambridge.         Your  aifectionate  son, 

"J.  M.  Wainwkight." 

It  is  certainly  a  most  encouraging  evidence 
of  correct  principles  in  a  youth,  when,  in- 
stead of  looking  forward  to  College  life  as  a 
time  when  parental  restraint  will  be  relaxed, 
he  desires  to  secure  for  himself,  during  this 
period  of  exposure  and  temptation,  a  continu- 
ance of  a  mother's  watchful  care  .and  the 
quiet  shelter  of  his  home. 

Again,  in  a  letter  to  his  brother  Peter, 
about  this  period,  we  are  struck  with  the 
sterling  good  sense  manifested  by  the  writer, 
and  by  the  high  standard  which  he  had  set 
up,  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  character  of  an 
intelligent  and  refined  gentleman. 


POLITENESS.  47 


"  Sandwich,  Jidy  lOih,  1808. 
"  My  Dear  Beothek — I  am  very  glad  that 
you  have  begun  to  send  me  a  few  lines,  and 
hope  you  will  continue  to  do  so.     It  will  not 
only  be  very  agreeable  to  me,  but  also  useful 
to  you ;  as  a  facility  in  expressing  one's  self 
in  literary   correspondence   is   almost  indis- 
pensably necessary  to  a  merchant,  and  a  very 
great   and  necessary   accomplishment    to   a 
gentleman,  who  wishes  to  know  more  than 
how  to  hand  a  lady  into  a  room.     Politeness 
is,  indeed,  a  very  desirable  accomplishment ; 
I  mean  that  politeness  which  consists  in  mak- 
ing everybody  around  you  comfortable ;  not 
that  flummery,  that  excrescence  of  gentility, 
that  sure  indication  of  an  empty,  brainless 
skull,  which  bows,  and  scrapes,  and  says  a 
thousand  pretty  things ;   but  is  destitute  of 
all  that  elevates  and  dignifies  human  nature, 
of  all  that  true  politeness  springing  from  a 
good  and  refined   education,  which   softens 
the  rough  and  honest  coloring  of  nature.     To 


48  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WATNWKIGHT. 


make  a  bow,  and  hand  a  lady  into  a  room, 
with  propriety,  is  desirable,  and  I  would  have 
you  cultivate  it ;  but,  remember,  that  it  will 
not  go  down,  unless  there  be  the  addition  of 
a  stock  of  good  sense,  with  those  whose  good 
opinion  is  worth  obtaining.  You  will  also 
derive  great  benefit  from  cultivating  chirog- 
raphy,  which  is  an  art  in  the  highest  degree 
elegant  and  useful. 

"  I  feel  very  sorry  that  your  taste  had  not 
led  you  to  form  some  acquaintance  with 
Latin  and  Greek.  You  would  never  have 
repented  it.  The  French  language  is,  still, 
in  your  way.  Make  yourself  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  that.  Be  perfectly  acquaint- 
ed with  history  and  geography.  I  do  not 
know  whetlier  being  two  and  a  half  years 
older  than  you  may  give  me  the  title  of  lec- 
turing you  in  this  manner.  But  I  think  the 
title  of  a  brother,  anxious  for  your  welfare, 
may.  The  reeds,  you  were  so  kind  as  to 
buy  me,  answered  very  well.     I  am  obliged 


FRATEKXAL    AND    FILIAL    VIRTUES.  49 

to  you,  for  your  trouble.     Have  you  cleaned 
tlie  gun  ?     If  not,  I  wish  you  would. 

"  Your  affectionate  brother  and  true  friend, 
''  J.  Mayhew  Waixwright." 

The  writer  cannot  but  lift  up  his  heart  in 
prayer  to  God.  that  the  beautiful  traits  of 
character  set  forth  in  this  letter  may  lead 
other  elder  brothers  to  perform  a  similar 
part,  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  naturally 
look  to  theni  for  example  and  counsel. 

In  the  conclusion  of  a  letter  written  to  his 
mother,  from  Sandwich,  on  the  8th  of  July, 
young  Wainwright  manifests  that  amiable 
and  dutiful  disposition  for  which  he  was  so 
remarkable. 

"  I  wish  you  would  send  me  down,  if  it  is 
right  and  proper  in  your  eyes,  not  forgetting 
convenience,  a  clarionet,  or  little  flute.  I 
heard  you  say  that  my  father  was  fond  of  the 
clarionet ;  if  so,  I  should  like  that  best. 

"  Desire  Eliza,  if  you  please,  to  get  me  one 
5 


50  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WAINWEIGHT. 


or  two  good  easy  tunes,  and  handsome  ;  per- 
haps such  as  General  IS^ox's  march,  &c." 

A  boy  who  thus  thinks  of  his  father's 
pleasure  is  certainly  a  pattern  worthy  of  imi- 
tation. It  is  such  little  things  as  this  which 
add  so  much  to  the  joys  of  a  Christian  family. 
Happy  is  the  parent  whom  God  has  b^.essed 
with  such  a  son  ! 


€|ajtn  Si^il;. 


ONE  MOEE  JUVENILE  EPISTLE PEOSPEEITT  IN  BUSINESS 

COUSIN    HENEY ""  BLOOD     AND     GEOATS" BEAUTY, 

WEiaHED    IN    THE    SCALE    WITH     OTHEE    QUALITIES 

WOETH  OF  A  GOOD  WIFE YOUNG  WAINWEIGHT  ENTEES 

HAEYAED  UNIYEESITY BEIEF  SKETCH  OF  THE  HISTOEY 

OF  THIS  YENEEABLE  INSTITUTION OETHODOX  INSCEIP- 

TIONS    ON    THE    OLD    COLLEGE   SEALS DANGEE    OF    DE- 

PAETING   FEOM    THE    OLD    PATHS — THE    GEADUAL     AD- 
VANCES OF  UNITAEIANISM — WHAT  CHUECHMEN  SHOULD 

DO COLLEGE    LIFE— THE    YOUNG   OEGANIST TAKES    A 

DEGEEE,  AND  IS  ELECTED  TO  AN  HONOEABLE  POST "  I 

NEVEE  KNEW  A  BETTER  EEADER." 

WE  have  only  one  more  juvenile  letter 
in  reserve ;  and  our  readers  will  be 
as  sorry  as  we  are.  It  is  dated  from  the  old 
academy,  at  Sandwich,  August  10th,  1808, 
and  is  addressed  to  the  fond  parents  who 
were  watching  so  anxiously  the  progress  of 
their  promising  son. 


62  LIFE   OF   BISHOP    WAINWRIGHT. 


"  I  was  very  agreeably  surprised,  last  Tues- 
day evening  at  tea,  by  receiving  two  letters, 
one  from  pa,  the  other,  containing  a  poem,  a 
letter  from  Florent,  and  a  few  lines  from  ma. 
As  I  have  but  little  time,  I  shall  answer  my 
dear  parents'  letters  conjunctively.  I  am  very 
glad  to  hear  that  pa's  business  engages  so  much 
of  his  time,  although  it  deprives  me  of  the 
pleasure  of  hearing  from  him  as  often  as  I 
should,  were  there  but  little  business ;  yet 
the  good  news  which  I  do  hear,  though  sel- 
dom, is  far  better  than  to  have  a  letter  every 
week  with  unfavorable  accounts. 

"  Pa  mentions  in  his  letter  that  he  hears 
that  cousin  Henry  is  enamored  of  a  beauty, 
without  '  blood  or  groats.' 

"If  the  lady  is  good-natured,  witty,  and 
sensible,  I  am  of  too  romantic  a  turn  to 
blame  him  ;  for  I  think  that  a  handsome  face, 
set  off  with  good  qualities  of  the  mind,  are 
charms  irresistible.  But  if  she  has  nothing 
but  a  pretty  face,  I  very  much  pity  him  ;  for, 


WORTH    OF    A    GOOD    WIFE.  53 


as  pa  sajs,  beauty  is  fading,  and  1  would 
rather  see  a  woman  as  ugly  as  the  witch  of 
Endor,  yet  good-natured,  and  sensible  withal, 
than  a  Yenus  de  Medicis,  ill-natured  and 
void  of  wit.  As  for  blood,  I  am  too  much 
of  a  freeman  to  care  anything  about  that. 

*  What  can  ennoble  sots,  or  slaves,  or  cowards  ? 
Alas  !  not  all  the  blood  of  all  the  Howards. ' 

"  Kiches,  I  think,  are  but  a  secondary  con- 
sideration, for  a  good  wife  is  worth  her 
A\'eight  in  gold." 

It  provokes  a  smile  to  hear  a  lad  of  six- 
teen speaking  thus  gravely  on  such  subjects, 
but  his  observations  are  marked  by  his  usual 
good  sense.  The  little  English  boy  is  out- 
growing his  early  predilections  for  his  native 
land,  and  is  becoming  almost  as  good  a 
Democrat  as  Mr.  Jefferson  himself! 

In  the  autumn  of  1808,  young  "Wainwright 
entered  Harvard  University,  at  Cambridge. 
This  is  one  of  the  oldest  institutions  in  the 
United    States,   its  history   dating  back   to 

5* 


64  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WAINWRIGHT. 


1636,  when  the  General  Court  at  Boston 
voted  four  hundred  pounds  towards  its  en- 
dowment. The  measure  was,  however,  not 
carried  into  successful  operation  until  two 
years  afterwards.  At  this  time,  the  Rev. 
John  Harvard,  an  English  clergyihan  of  ed- 
ucation, who  had  been  about  a  year  in  the 
Colony  of  Massachusetts,  died,  and  left  to  the 
school  a  valuable  donation  in  money  and 
books;  thus  enabling  the  trustees  to  employ 
instructors  and  begin  their  work. 

The  charters  of  the  College  are  silent  in 
regard  to  points  of  Christian  faith,  but  it  is 
worthy  of  note  that  its  seal  once  bore  the 
inscription  "  In  Christi  Gloriam^''  and,  in  the 
time  of  Mather,  "  Christo  et  EcdesM^* 

It  is  sad  to  reflect  how  much  evil  the  de- 
scendants of  the  Puritans  have  suffered,  be- 
cause their  fathers  wandered  away  from  the 
old  paths  of  the  Church !     Their  most  famous 


«*  Quincy's  History,  Vol.  1.,  p.  49. 


GEADrAL   ADVANCES    OF   TNITARIANISM.      00 


institutions  of  learning  have  fallen  under  the 
baneful  influences  of  Unitarianism,  a  system 
whicli  denies  tlie  Divinity  of  tlie  Lord,  who 
bought  us  with  His  blood,  and  without  whose 
atoning  sacrifice  no  sinner  could  hope  for 
acceptance  with  God.  The  progress  of  tliese 
fearful  errors  was  gradual.  When  young 
Wainwright  entered  Harvard,  this  soulless 
form  of  religion  was  not  publicly  professed 
within  her  ancient  halls  ;  but  in  1810,  on  the 
sudden  death  of  Webber,  the  presidency  was 
given  to  Kirkland,  and  then  IJnitarianism 
might  boast  of  a  champion,  who,  as  soon  as 
it  could  be  safely  done,  was  ready  to  unfurl 
its  banners.  Ah !  how  skilfully  the  father  of 
lies  arranged  his  plans,  in  this  masterly  at- 
tempt to  undermine  the  orthodox  faith  ! 

Doubt  at  first  "  infused  itself  into  upright 
minds  with  the  air  of  Scriptural  inquiry, 
until  it  caused  a  theological  mistake  ;  then, 
spreading  the  shining  mist  of  liberality  over 
the  cold,  the  vain,  the  worldly,  the  timid,  the 


56  LrlFE    OF   BISHOP   WAINWRIGHT. 


presumptuous,  it  nourished  a  stupendous 
heresy  ;  and  finally,  forcing  a  bolder  order 
of  thinkers  back  upon  themselves,  it  issued 
in  a  wilderness  of  popular  unbelief.  But  the 
spirit  which  loves  to  doubt  can  but  depart, 
by  its  very  nature,  farther  and  farther  from 
the  high  regions  of  celestial  faith.  He  sees 
the  flakes  of  snow  gathering  along  the  tide  of 
the  humblest  Alpine  brook,  and  well  knows 
that,  though  kingdoms  lie  between,  they  must 
descend  till  they  reach  the  sea."* 

Young  Wainwright  passed,  unscathed, 
through  the  dangers  which  every  stripling 
must  encounter,  who  enters  a  college  where 
"  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints"  is 
not  sacredly  preserved  and  taught ;  but  it 
is  not  always  so.  When  will  Churchmen 
learn  wisdom  in  this  matter?  Let  our  own 
schools  and  colleges  be  patronized,  and  let 


*'^  Pages  from  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  New  England 
(p.  126),  by  Dr.  George  Burgess,  now  Bishop  of  Maine. 


GKADUATES.  57 


no  encouragement  be  given  to  those  where 
the  Christian  religion,  in  all  its  fulness,  is 
not  heartily  embraced.  Few  details  can 
now  be  gleaned  of  young  Wainwright's  col- 
lege days.  During  this  period,  it  is  believed 
that  he  indulged  his  love  of  sacred  music, 
which  was  a  passion  with  him,  by  officiating 
without  salary  as  the  organist  of  Christ 
Church,  at  which  he  worshipped.  He  grad- 
uated, with  honor,  in  1812,  and  was  soon 
afterwards  appointed  a  j)roctor  of  the  Uni- 
versity, and  instructor  in  rhetoric.  He  con- 
tinued to  occupy  this  position  for  several 
vears,  discharprins:  his  several  duties  with 
great  acceptance.  Indeed,  he  was  remark- 
ably well  fitted  to  fill  any  department  where 
sterling  sense  and  exquisite  taste  were 
needed. 

One  who  was  most  intimate  with  him,  at 
this  time,  remarks :  "  I  never  knew  a  better 
reader.  How  many  hours  have  I  listened  to 
him,  with  delight,  in  the  early  years  of  our  ac- 


58 


LIFE   OF   BISHOP    WAINWRIGIIT. 


quaintance  !    Spenser,  Milton,  Cowper,  Aken- 
Bide,  Gray,  came  mended  from  his  tongue." 

No  one  who  ever  heard  Bishop  Wain- 
wright  read  the  Church  Service,  will  consider 
this  praise  too  great. 


A  STUDENT    OF   LAW — THIS    PUESUIT  SOON  ABANDONED 

THOUGHTS    TURNED   TO  THE  MINISTRY FEEBLENESS  OF 

THE   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH,  IN  NEW  ENGLAND — UNITARI- 

ANI8M DR.    GARDINER AN    OUTLINE    OF    HIS    LIFE 

BEGINNING    OF    HIS    MINISTRY CALL    TO    BOSTON DR. 

JARVIS  BECOMES  RECTOR  OF  ST.  PAUL's THE  WINDOW- 

P.LINDS — "  TRULY  THE    LIGHT    IS    SWEEt" — ODDITIES 

CHAMPION    OF    ORTHODOXY CHRISTMAS    SERMON    IN 

1810 CHARACTERISTIC    EXTRACT DR.     GARDINEr's 

DEATH MR.     WAINWRIGHT    VISITS    NEW     JERSEY OR- 
DAINED DEACON — ENTRANCE  UPON  A  GREAT  WORK. 

"jVTOT  long  after  leaving  college,  joung 
X  1  Wainwright  entered  the  office  of  the 
late  William  Sullivan,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  as  a 
student  of  law.  He  found,  however,  that 
this  pursuit  would  not  be  at  all  congenial  to 
his  tastes,  and  soon  abandoned  it,  and  de- 
termined to  devote  his  life  to  the  work  of  the 
ministry. 


60  LIFE    OF    BISHOP   WAINWEIGHT. 


His  theological  course  was  directed  by  the 
Rev.  John  S.  J.  Gardiner,  D.D.,  rector  of 
Trinity  Church,  Boston.  At  this  time  there 
were  only  ten  Episcopal  clergymen  in  the 
State  of  Massachusetts,  and  about  two  hun- 
dred in  active  service  throughout  the  whole 
extent  of  the  Union. 

Dr.  Gardiner,  who  occupied  one  of  the 
watch-towers  of  Zion,  in  the  city  of  Boston, 
when  Unitarianism  was  rife  and  rampant, 
deserves,  at  least,  a  passing  notice. 

His  father,  Dr.  Sylvester  Gardiner,  was 
born  in  Boston,  but  had  been  sent  to  be  edu- 
cated in  England,  and  having  grown  to  man's 
estate,  and  married  in  Wales,  he  left  England 
in  1Y66,  with  the  appointment  of  attorney- 
general  to  the  Island  of  St.  Christopher.  He 
remained  in  the  West  Indies  until  the  close 
of  the  War  of  Independence,  and  in  1783 
removed  to  Boston. 

His  son,  the  clergyman,  was  a  native  of 
South  Wales,  and   at  the   age   of  eighteen 


DR.    GARDIXER.  61 


came  with  his  parents  to  Massachusetts.  This 
was  not  his  first  acquaintance  with  Boston, 
for  he  had  been  sent  there  to  school,  in  child- 
hood ;  but  upon  the  breaking  out  of  the  Eev- 
olution  he  returned  home  to  the  "West  Indies. 
When  eleven  years  old,  he  was  taken  to 
England  and  placed  under  tlie  care  of  the 
celebrated  Dr.  Parr,  whose  valuable  instruc- 
tions he  enjoyed  for  six  years. 

Young  Gardiner  became  a  student  of  di- 
vinity, at  Boston,  and  was  ordained  Deacon 
by  Bishop  Provost,  of  I^ew  York,  in  1787. 

He  began  his  ministry  at  Beaufort,  South 
Carolina,  but,  in  1792,  returned  to  Boston, 
as  assistant  minister  of  Trinity  Church,  and 
thirteen  years  afterwards,  on  the  death  of 
Bishop  Parker,  Dr.  Gardiner  succeeded  to 
the  rectorship.  He  was  a  good  scholar  and 
a  strong  Churchman,  and  in  social  life  an 
agreeable  and  accomplished  gentleman. 
Many  amusing  anecdotes  are  told  of  his 
eccentricities. 

6 


62  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WAINWKIGHT. 


In  1820,  when  the  distmgiiished  Dr.  Jarvis 
became  the  rector  of  St.  Paul's  Church, 
Boston,  the  contrast  between  the  showy  ek)- 
cution  of  the  rector  of  Trinity,  and,  his  own 
quiet,  subdued  manner,  was  generally  re- 
marked. 

Among  other  improvements  made  in  St. 
Paul's,  about  this  time,  was  the  shutting  out 
of  some  of  the  glaring  light  of  day  by  means 
of  blinds,  which  could  be  raised  and  lowered 
at  pleasure.  On  a  certain  occasion,  when  the 
two  rectors  had  exchanged  pulpits.  Dr.  Gar- 
diner could  not  resist  the  disposition  which 
he  fel',  to  show  his  dislike  to  the  window 
shades.  Accordingly,  having  performed  the 
service  in  due  order,  he  ascended  the  pulpit, 
and  gave  out  for  his  text  these  words  of  the 
wise  man :  "  Truly  the  light  is  sweety  and  a 
pleasant  thing  it  is  for  the  eyes  to  hehold  the 
sun.^^ — Eccles.  xi.  7.  Tlien,  pausing,  he  point- 
ed to  one  of  the  windows  and  said,  with  a 
significant  look,  "  The  sexton  will  please  raise 


CHAMPION   OF   OETHODOXY.  63 


that  blind."  Of  course  I  do  not  record  tliis 
anecdote  to  encourage  any  one  tlius  to  carry 
liis  jokes  into  the  pulpit.  Far  from  it.  But 
in  painting  the  portrait  of  an  individual, 
we  must  throw  in  all  the  proper  light  and 
shade. 

With  all  his  faults,  Dr.  Gardiner  stood 
forth  boldly,  in  the  midst  of  a  community 
where  the  Unitarian  heresy  was  nnblushingly 
taught,  as  a  defender  of  the  great  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity.  I  have  an  old  pamphlet 
now  before  me,  containing  a  sermon  "  On 
the  Divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,"  delivered  by 
him  on  Christmas  dav,  1810.  A  sino-le 
passage  will  be  given,  as  a  specimen  of  his 
peculiar  style,  and  as  describing  the  course 
which  is  pursued  by  those  who  are  seek- 
ing to  sap  the  foundations  of  the  orthodox 
faith. 

"  Ingenious  men,  when  they  have  formed 
or  adopted  a  system,  no  longer  pursue  their 
inquiries  for  the  discovery  of  truth,  but  for 


64  LIFE   OF   BISHOP    WAINWEIGHT. 


new  arguments  to  support  their  system. 
They  are  flattered  with  their  own  ingenuity, 
and  cannot  see  the  force  of  their  antagonist's 
arguments,  though  clear  as  the  sun  to  a  mind 
unprejudiced.  If  the  Old  Testament  is 
against  their  system,  away  with  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. If  St.  Paul  is  opposed  to  their  theory, 
St.  Paul,  in  this  case,  is  no  authority.  Thus 
the  polemical  Procrustes  stretches  or  lops  the 
Scripture  till  it  exactly  accords  with  the  di- 
mensions of  his  own  hypothesis.  To  support 
this  hypothesis,  he  descends  to  the  minutest 
subtleties  of  verbal  criticism,  till  at  length 
the  most  important  truths  of  God's  revealed 
word  are  made  to  depend  on  the  insertion  or 
omission  of  an  article,  a  conjunction,  or  a 
preposition." 

As  we  have  turned  aside  thus  far  from  the 
due  course  of  the  narrative,  in  order  to  pre- 
sent this  sketch  of  Dr.  Gardiner,  it  will  be 
proper  to  add,  that  having  taken  a  sea  voy- 
age for  the  benefit  of  his  health,  he  died  at 


ORDAINED   DEACON,  65 


Harrowgate,  England,  on  the  29th  of  July, 
1830,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five. 

He  lived  long  enough  to  see  his  former  pu- 
pil in  theology  ordained  to  the  holy  ministry, 
and  fast  rising  to  a  prominent  place  among 
the  shininoj  lio-hts  of  the  Church. 

In  1814,  while  quietly  pursuing  his  studies 
in  Boston,  Mr.  Wainwright  was  invited  to 
St.  John's,  New  Brunswick,  to  take  charge 
of  the  academy,  and  of  the  parish  also  as 
soon  as  he  had  been  ordained.  He  visited 
the  place,  but  the  arrangement  was  not  con- 
summated, and  he  soon  returned  home.  Hav- 
ing finished  his  preparatory  course,  he  was 
admitted  to  the  holy  order  of  Deacon,  by 
Bishop  Griswold,  in  St.  John's  Church,  Provi- 
dence, in  1816.  Thus,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
four,  we  find  the  stripling  who  had  been  so 
puzzled,  during  his  school-boy  days  at  Sand- 
wich, by  the  conflicting  religious  opinions  of 
those  about  him,  going  forth  with  a  commis- 
sion from  God  to  propose  terms  of  pardon 

6* 


66  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WAIN  WEIGHT. 


and  reconciliation  to  those  who  had  rebelled 
against  Him,  and  to  build  np,  among  the 
ruins  of  other  systems,  the  walls  of  tliat  "  glo- 
rious Church,"  against  which  even  the  gates 
of  Hell  cannot  prevail. 


CIrajtcr  ^ig|tK 


REMOVAL   TO    HAETFORD — OEDAINED    PRIEST,    AND    INSTI- 
TUTED    RECTOR     OF     CHRIST     CHURCH MARRIAGE 

ZEALOUS     IN      GOOD     WORKS INTEREST     IN     SUNDAY 

SCHOOLS    AND    MISSIONS REPORT    OF    AN   EYE-WITNESS 

ALMOST  A   RURAL    PARISH DR.    BEOWNELL   BECOMES 

BISHOP  OF  CONNECTICUT — MR.  WAINWRIGHT  CHOSEN 
AN  ASSISTANT  MINISTER  OF  TRINITY  CHURCH — NEW 
LABORS,  IN  A  LARGER  FIELD ACCEPTS  THE  RECTOR- 
SHIP OF  GRACE  CHURCH BRIEF  NOTICE  OF  ITS  HIS- 
TORY  DOCTOR     IN     DIVINITY PASTORAL     DUTIES 

LENT   LECTURES CATECHIZING. 

MK.  WAIXWKIGHT,  while  yet  in  Dea- 
con's orders,  was  called  to  the  charge 
of  Christ  Church,  Hartford,  Connecticut. 

Bishop  Jarvis  had  died  in  1813,  and  the 

Diocese  of  Connecticut,  having  at  this  time 

no  Episcopal  head,  was  under  the  provisional 

charge  of  Bishop  Hobart,  of  New  York. 

The  young  clergyman  was  admitted  to  the 


68  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WAIN  WRIGHT. 


Priestliood  by  this  honored  prelate,  and  was 
instituted  by  him  as  rector  of  the  parish, 
May  29th,  1818.  "  It  was  his  first  love,  and 
he  was  entirely  happy  in  it.  And  the  more, 
when  the  light  of  human  endearment  came 
in,  upon  his  hearth,  to  brighten  and  to 
sanctify  it.  He  was  married,  in  August, 
1818,  to  Amelia  Maria,  the  daughter  of  Tim- 
othy Phelps,  Esq.,  of  'New  Haven.  She  sur- 
vives him,  with  eight  children.  Six  went 
before  him  into  rest." 

Although  Mr.  Wainwright  remained  but  a 
short  time  at  Hartford,  he  left  his  mark  be- 
hind him.  He  was  very  active  in  the  first 
organization  of  the  Sunday  School,  and  began 
to  manifest  that  deep  and  tender  interest  in 
the  lambs  of  the  flock  for  which  he  was  dis- 
tinguished through  the  whole  period  of  his 
ministry. 

It  is  pleasant  to  remember,  also,  that  the 
earliest  missionary  association,  in  connection 
with  the  parish  of  Christ  Church,  was  formed 


ZEALOUS    OF    GOOD    WORKS.  69 


by  him.  He  travelled  about  through  Massa- 
chusetts organizing  auxiliary  societies,  and 
was  one  of  the  first  and  most  zealous  agents 
in  behalf  of  Sunday  Schools  and  Missions  in 
our  country. 

A  venerable  bishop,  who,  at  that  period, 
was  an  humble  parish  priest  in  the  Eastern 
Diocese,  has  kindly  favored  the  writer  with 
a  brief  account  of  his  first  interview  with 
the  subject  of  this  memoir.  "I  had  gone  to 
the  Convention,  which  assembled  at  Green- 
field, Massachusetts,  in  company  with  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Carlile,  then  rector  of  St. 
Peter's  Church,  Salem,  who  had  kindly  of- 
fered me  a  seat  in  his  own  conveyance. 
Upon  our  return  we  passed  down  the  valley 
of  the  Connecticut  as  far  as  Hartford,  and, 
for  the  first  time,  the  vernal  beauties  of  that 
magnificent  region  refreshed  my  taste  and 
kindled  my  imagination.  Since  then  my 
eye  lias  rested  upon  scenes  more  exquisitely 
polished  by  the  hand  of  Art,  but  upon  none 


70  LIFE   OF   BISHOP    WAINWEIGHT. 


where  tlie  beauties  of  Art  and  Nature  are 
more  happily  blended,  the  Art  not  a  whit 
too  elaborate,  or  Nature  one  touch  too  rough. 

"  We  found  the  rector  of  Christ  Church, 
Hartford — then  but  recently  married — in  the 
full  enjoyment  of  the  perfect  earthly  elysium 
of  my  then  young  imagination,  a  fitting  vil- 
lage, and  almost  rural  parish.  How  remark- 
able, that  he  was  permitted  to  taste  these 
innocent  and  dear  delights  for  so  short  a 
period ;  that  so  large  a  portion  of  his  life  was 
passed  in  the  most  crowded  portions  of  our 
cities ;  and  that  his  almost  martyr's  death  was 
earned  in  a  sphere  of  duty  which  calls  for 
the  severest  abnegation  of  home  pleasures." 

In  the  year  1819,  the  Rev.  Thomas  C. 
Brownell,  then  an  assistant  minister  of  Trin- 
ity Church,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  was 
chosen  Bishop  of  Connecticut.  That  the  ap- 
pointment was  a  most  happy  and  judicious 
one,  his  mild  and  gentle  rule,  for  well  nigh 
forty  years,  abundantly  has  proved. 


RECTOR   OF   GRACE   CHURCH.  71 


Mr.  Wainwriglit  was  called  to  fill  the  va- 
cancy thus  made  in  tlie  ranks  of  the  clergy 
of  Trinity  Parish,  and,  at  the  earnest  solicita- 
tion of  Bishop  Hobart  and  other  friends,  he 
determined  to  accept.  His  labors  in  this  new 
and  enlarged  field  were  most  faitliful ;  and 
his  bland,  engaging  manners,  w^liich  won 
the  hearts  of  all,  were  especially  influential 
with  the  young.  While  thus  pleasantly  and 
profitably  employed,  he  was  elected  to  the 
rectorship  of  Grace  Church,  IN'ew  York,  but 
declined  the  invitation.  In  1821,  however, 
when  the  call  was  renewed,  he  felt  it  wrong 
to  refuse. 

Grace  Church  was  built  by  the  corporation 
of  Trinity  Parish,  to  supply  the  increasing 
demand  for  church  accommodation  which 
Trinity  and  her  chapels  were  unable  to  meet. 

It  was  consecrated  by  Bishop  Benjamin 
Moore,  Dec.  2 1st,  1808.  The  first  rector 
was  the  Rev.  IS'athaniel  Bowen,  D.D.,  after- 
wards Bishop  of  South  Carolina.     He  was 


72  LIFE   OF   BISHOP    AVAINWRIGHT. 


succeeded,  in  1818,  by  the  Rev.  James  Mont- 
gomeiy,  and  then  came  Mr.  Wainwright,  a 
brief  vacancy  between  the  two  having  been 
supplied  by  the  Rev.  William  II.  De  Lancey, 
Deacon,  now  Bishop  of  Western  ]^ew  York. 

Here,  thirteen  of  the  best  and  happiest 
years  of  Mr.  Wainwright's  life  were  spent. 
Laboring  with  earnestness  and  zeal,  and  at- 
tracting about  him  a  large  circle  of  devoted 
friends,  he  soon  won  for  himself  a  most  envi- 
able name  as  a  faithful  and  eloquent  preach- 
er of  the  Gospel  and  a  devoted  pastor. 

Two  years  after  he  became  rector  of  Grace 
Church,  he  received  from  Columbia  College 
the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  in  Divinity, 
the  same  well-deserved  title  being  afterwards 
bestowed  upon  him  by  his  own  Alma  Mater^ 
at  Cambridge.  "  In  addition  to  the  ordinary 
public  duties  of  the  sanctuary,  which  he  dis- 
charged with  fidelity  and  with  favor,  his 
pastoral  course  was  marked  by  great  atten- 
tion to  other  duties,  which,  at  that  period, 


LEISTT   LECTURES.  Y3 


were  not  universally  observed  by  that  class 
of  divines  with  wliicli  he  was  connected. 

"  We  refer  to  the  exposition  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture in  lectures,  especially  during  the  season 
of  Lent,  the  religious  instruction  of  the 
young,  and  the  cultivation  of  a  missionary 
spirit  among  the  people  at  large.  In  the  first 
of  these  duties  he  was  pre-eminently  success- 
ful. His  primary  series  of  Lectures,  which 
excited  at  the  time  great  interest,  was  on  the 
Gospel  IS'arrative  Harmonized.  To  prepare 
his  people  for  a  more  profitable  attendance 
on  his  Exposition,  he  made  out  and  printed 
an  outline  of  the  subjects,  and  advised  and 
encouraged  them  to  form  the  harmony  for 
themselves,  that  they  might  have  the  very 
passages  before  them  on  which  he  lectured, 
for  use  then  and  for  reference  afterwards  in 
their  private  study  at  home. 

"This  was  done  by  many  of  his  parishioners, 
and  added  much  to  the  interest  and  value  of 
his  instructions.     He  was  remarkably  happy 

7 


74  LIFE   OF   BISHOP    WAINWRIGHT. 


in  his  lectures,  which,  though  carefully  pre- 
pared, were  not  written,  and  never  failed  to 
secure  the  attention  of  his  auditors.  Tliis 
pi'actice  he  continued  to  the  close  of  his  life, 
even  after  his  elevation  to  the  Episcopate. 
The  last  course  which  he  delivered  was  dur- 
ing the  Lent  season  following  his  consecra- 
tion, in  St.  John's  Chapel,  New  York. 

"  His  interest  in  the  religious  instruction  of 
youth  has  likewise  been  mentioned.  He  was 
attentive  to  the  duty  of  catechizing  the  lambs 
of  his  flock,  and  always  took  a  deep  interest  in 
his  Sunday  School.  Several  of  our  clergy 
who  are  now  occupying  prominent  positions 
in  the  Church,  were  engaged  with  him  as 
catechists  at  this  period."* 

**  Dr.  Haight's  Essay  on  Life  of  Bishop  Wainwright, 
Church  Keview,  Vol.  VII.,  p.  580. 


ADDITIONAL   PAETIOULAES   ABOUT   PASTOEAL  LABOR — IN- 
TEREST  IN   SUNDAY    SCHOOL — IMPORTANCE    OF  A   GOOD 

SUNDAY    SCHOOL   LIBRARY A  PARISH   SCHOOL  THIRTY- 

FOUB    YEARS    AGO THE    CHURCH    WAKING    UP — ZEAL 

FOR  MISSIONS MEASURES  WHICH  WERE  ALMOST  SUS- 
PECTED OF  BEING  WRONG CHURCH  MUSIC SOME- 
THING ABOUT  CHOIRS  AND  CONGREGATIONAL  SINGING 
MALIBRAN  AT  GRACE  CHURCH SCENE  AT  A  WAY- 
SIDE  TAVERN "  BROTHER   HENSHAW,    DO    PRAY    WITH 

us!" THE    POTENCY    OF    THE    SPIRIT    OF   PRAYER. 

WE  have  something  more  to  add,  to 
what  was  said  in  the  last  chapter,  con- 
cerning Dr.  Wainwright's  efficient  labors  as 
a  parish  priest.  I  have  carefully  read  over 
all  of  his  reports  to  the  New  York  Conven- 
tion during  the  period  of  his  connection  with 
Grace  Church,  and  the  interest  which  he  felt 
in  his  Sunday  School  is  manifested  through- 
out the  whole  of  them. 


76  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WAIN  WRIGHT. 


Like  other  institutions  of  the  sort,  it  had 
its  fluctuations.  Sometimes  the  good  rector 
was  encouraged  by  evident  tokens  of  pros- 
perity, and  then,  again,  there  would  follow  a 
season  of  disheartening  decline.  During  one 
year  we  find  the  Sunday  School  nearly  bro- 
ken up  by  the  prevalence  of  the  yellow  fever 
in  the  city. 

In  1831,  he  reports  that  valuable  additions 
have  been  made  to  the  Sunday  School  Li- 
brary, which  "  is  found  to  be  productive  of 
great  benefit,  both  to  the  children  and  their 
parents."  It  is  almost  a  hopeless  task  to  sus- 
tain a  Sunday  School  without  a  full  assort- 
ment of  good  and  attractive  books ;  and  those 
of  my  readers  who  are  contributing  towards 
the  publication  of  new  volumes  for  this  end 
are  devoting  their  money  to  a  most  import- 
ant object. 

Besides  the  Sunday  School,  Dr.  Wain- 
wright  took  a  very  active  part  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  charity  school,  to  which  he  thus 


PARISH  SCHOOL  THIRTY-FOUR  YEARS  AGO.     77 


refers  in  his  report  for  1824 :  "  During  the 
past  year  a  charity  school  has  been  establish- 
ed by  this  parish,  designed  to  educate  150 
boys  and  150  girls,  of  the  children  of  poor 
persons. 

A  master  and  mistress  have  been  appoint- 
ed, who  conduct  the  school,  under  the 
superintendence  of  the  Hector  and  a  com- 
mittee of  twenty-four  gentlemen  of  the  par- 
ish, for  the  male  department,  and  twenty- 
four  ladies  for  the  female.  Tliese  commit- 
tees are  divided  into  sub-committees  of  two, 
who  visit  the  school  in  monthly  rotation. 
There  are  now  in  the  male  department  110 
children,  and  in  the  female  125  ;  all  of  whom 
are  instructed  in  the  common  branches  of 
an  useful  education,  and  in  the  doctrines 
and  worship  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church." 

When  this  noble  work  was  begun,  by  the 
Rector  and  congregation  of  Grace  Church, 
such    plans    of    benevolence    were     almost 


78  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WAIN  WRIGHT. 


unknown  in  this  country,  and  the  persons 
who  thus  boldly  struck  out,  in  the  right  di- 
rection, in  a  matter  so  all-important,  certainly 
deserve  great  credit. 

Now,  thank  God,  the  Church  is  waking  up 
to  a  sense  of  her  responsibility,  and  we  trust 
that  her  zeal  will  not  flag  until  every  con- 
gregation has  its  parish  school  in  successful 
operation.  It  was  certainly  a  mistake  to  give 
to  the  enterprise  the  odious  name  of  a  charity 
school  I  and  it  would  have  been  better  to 
have  called  it  after  one  of  the  Apostles  or 
Saints  of  old,  or  simply  a  parish  or  parochial 
school.  Even  the  poorest  persons  do  not  like 
to  send  their  children  to  a  so-called  charity 
school. 

Besides  the  successful  efforts  for  doing 
good  already  referred  to,  Dr.  Wainwright 
preached  an  able  and  interesting  series  of 
sermons  on  Christian  Education,  which  were 
afterwards  published  by  request  of  his  con- 
gregation. 


ZEAL   FOR   MISSIONS.  79 


He  also  contiuiied  to  feel  a  lively  interest 
in  the  great  work  of  missions ;  a  subject 
towards  whicli  his  mind  was  directed  from 
his  first  entrance  to  the  ministry.  In  May, 
1828,  he  delivered  a  sermon  in  St.  James' 
Church,  Philadelphia,  before  the  Directors 
of  the  Domestic  and  Foreign  Missionary  So- 
ciety (then  a  feeble  association,  with  only 
fouT  missionaries  in  the  whole  field),  which 
electrified  the  Church,  and  roused  up  her 
members  from  their  long  slumber. 

Thi'ee  months  after,  we  find  the  eloquent 
rector  of  Grace  Church  lifting  up  his  voice 
again,  in  his  old  pulpit  at  Hartford,  on  the 
occasion  of  forming  the  African  Mission 
School  Society. 

Neither  were  his  eff'orts  in  this  depart- 
ment of  duty  confined  to  sermons.  He 
called  his  people  together  for  missionary 
meetings,  where  interesting  and  encouraging 
facts  were  laid  before  them,  and  he  made 
these  things  the  theme  of  conversation  in  his 


80  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WAINWRIGHT. 


pastoral  visits  from  house  to  house.  All  this 
was  done,  it  must  be  remembered,  when 
such  efforts  were  quite  unknown  to  many 
in  our  branch  of  the  Church,  and  almost  too 
new  to  be  considered  safe  !  With  his  refined 
and  cultivated  taste,  it  may  be  readily  sup- 
posed that  Dr.  Wain  Wright  paid  great  atten- 
tion to  the  proper  performance  of  everything 
relating  to  public  worship. 

His  ardent  love  for  sacred  music  seemed 
steadily  to  increase,  and  the  effect  was  seen 
in  the  great  perfection  to  which  it  was  car- 
ried by  his  choir,  and  in  the  more  general 
attention  paid  to  it  throughout  the  land. 

A  collection  of  Church  music,  arranged 
and  published  by  himself,  became  very  popu- 
lar, and  was  productive  of  much  lasting  good. 

To  worship  God,  in  the  beauty  of  holiness, 
was  almost  an  instinct  of  his  nature,  and 
every  thing  which  could  contribute  to  this 
end  was  gladly  brought  into  service.  When 
the   celebrated    Malibran   visited    America, 


CHTIRCH   MUSIC.  81 


she  sang  on  several  occasions  in  the  choir  of 
Grace  Church.* 

At  this  stage  of  the  narrative,  we  are  in- 
debted to  the  same  poKshed  pen  which  fur- 
nished the  bird's-eye  view  of  the  young  rec- 
tor at  Hartford,  for  another  portrait  of  the 
same  individual,  now  become  a  dignified 
Doctor  of  the  Church.  "  On  their  way  to 
General  Convention,  or  to  some  other  assem- 
blage of  the  clergy,  in  times  ante-dating  the 
rush  of  railroads,  a  number  of  ministers  were 
passing  a  night  together  at  a  wayside  tavern. 
At  such  times  their  intercourse  is  apt  to  be 


**  Duyckinck's  Cyclopcedia  of  American  Literature,  II., 
139.  Altliough  we  must  be  thankful  at  the  revival  of 
Congregational  singing,  yet,  after  all,  Clioirs  must  coxitinue 
to  be  a  necessity  of  the  Church.  No  music,  of  a  difficult 
character,  can  be  expected  without  them.  And  while  we 
readily  grant,  that  in  order  to  meet  the  wants  of  the 
many,  Church  music  should  generally  be  plain  and  simple, 
the  taste  of  the  feiv  should  also  be  gratified  with  An- 
thems, &c.,  of  a  superior  style. 

For  some  admirable  remarks  on  Church  Music,  see  Hal- 
lam's  Lectures  on  Morning  Service,  p.  90. 


82  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WAINWKIGHT. 


unrestrained.  Tliey  are  under  a  spell  of  no 
common  potency. 

"  Released  from  the  cramped  and  confined 
position  of  a  stage-coach ;  relieved  from  the 
constraint  imposed  by  a  censorious  public  ; 
led  back,  by  silken  cords,  to  the  play-grounds 
of  childhood,  or  to  the  happy  days  of  col- 
lege life  ;  stimulated  by  a  thousand  literary 
tastes  and  associations  in  perfect  concord  ; 
they  lose  sight  of  all  ecclesiastical  differ- 
ences, and  unite  in  one  common  sentiment  of 
friendship  and  affection. 

"  At  the  close  of  an  evening  passed  under 
these  cordial  and  enlivening  influences,  upon 
retiring  to  their  bed-chambers,  four  clergy- 
men found  themselves  very  near  to  what,  to 
each  of  them,  at  home,  had  been  a  sacred 
altar  of  their  God  ;  and  Dr.  Wainwright  was 
the  first  to  feel  the  spirit  of  the  place  and  of 
the  hour,  and  turning  to  the  rector  of  St. 
Peter's,  Baltimore,  he  said:  '  Come,  Brother 
Henshaw,  you  are  the  most  accustomed   to 


POTENCY    OF    THE    SPIRIT    OF    PRAYER. 


83 


pray  extemporaneously  on  such  occasions  as 
this  ;  do  pray  with  us !' 

"  Ah !  the  spirit  of  prayer ;  how  much 
more  potent  and  loving  it  is  than  the  spirit 
of  party!" 


Cliit^ter    fenti]. 


EEMOVAL   TO   BOSTON — TRINITY   CHIJECH — WELCOMED  BY 

OLD    FRIENDS THE   DECAYING    PARISH   REVIYED A 

NEW     ORGAN VISIT     TO      ENGLAND THE     PASTOr's 

MEMORY     CHERISHED   BY    HIS    FLOCK LETTERS    TO    HIS 

SONS GREAT     LONDON — SIGHT-SEEING — LARGE     DOGS, 

AND  SMALL  DONKEYS BEAUTIFUL  PARKS — GRAND  RE- 
VIEW OF  TROOPS — THE  DUKE  OF  WELLINGTON'S  DIN- 
NER   TO    THE  KING SIGHT    OF    THE    GOLD    AND    SILVER 

PLATE — LORDS    AND    LADIES — GOOD    MANNERS HOUSE 

^    LORDS THE    KING's    HORSES    AND     CARRIAGES 

MANY   THINGS    UNTOLD. 


\  FTER  thirteen  tappy  and  useful  years, 
as   the   rector   of  Grace   Church,   Dr. 


A 


Wainwright  received  an  urgent  call  to  take 
charge  of  Trinity  Church,  Boston.  This  was 
in  1834:.  I^othing  but  a  sense  of  duty  would 
have  led  him  to  accept,  for  he  was  perfectly 
contented  where  he  was. 

The  ancient  parish  of  Trinity  Church  had 


VISIT    TO    ENGLAND.  85 


been  without  a  pastor  for  more  than  a  year, 
and  was  suffering  sadly  in  consequence  of 
this  want.  The  Church  could  ill  afford  to 
lose  any  strength  which  she  might  have  al- 
ready gained  in  Boston,  and  clergy  and  laity 
entreated  Dr.  Wainwright  to  accept.  He 
could  not  w^ell  refuse.  "  He  was  welcomed 
back  to  the  haunts  of  his  youth  with  the  ut- 
most cordiality.  His  old  friends  rallied  about 
him.  l^ew  friends  were  gathered  to  them. 
The  parish  was  encouraged  and  reinforced. 
A  better  organ  was  needed ;  and  he  was  sent 
to  England  to  procure  its  construction,  with 
a  most  liberal  provision  for  his  i:>ersonal 
expenses  abroad. 

*'  It  was  the  land  of  his  birth.  It  was  the 
land  of  his  heart.  Scarcely  any  one  ever 
went  abroad  with  a  better  preparation  for 
the  highest  enjoyment. 

"  Scarcely  any  one  ever  more  completely 
realized  his  most  sanguine  expectations.  His 
letters,  to  his  beloved  wife,  run  over  with 

8 


86  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WAINWRIGHT. 


delight.  He  went  from  England  into  France, 
Switzerland,  and  Germany,  and  returned  to 
Boston  after  an  absence  of  eight  months."* 

We  find  very  gratifying  evidence,  in  the 
JSTew  York  Conventional  Journal  for  1834, 
that  the  members  of  Grace  Church  cherished 
the  memory  of  their  former  pastor,  by  com- 
pleting their  contribution  for  the  establish- 
ment of  "  The  Wainwright  SGliolarsliip^^  in 
tlie  General  Theological  Seminary. 

Some  interesting  traces  of  Dr.  Wain- 
wright's  visit  to  England  are  preserved  in  let- 
ters to  his  sons,  from  which  our  young  read- 
ers especially  will  derive  much  satisfaction. 
It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  William  lY. 
was  then  King  of  England.  The  first  letter, 
in  our  possession,  is  dated  London,  June  30th, 
1836,  and  is  as  follows  : 

"My  Dear  Boys — Since  I  last  wrote  to 
you  I  have  seen  your  dear  grandfather  much, 

*  Bishop  Doane's  Memoir,  p.  38. 


GREAT    LOXDOX.  87 


and  many  other  friends.  After  letting  yon 
know  that  they  are  well,  I  dare  say  you  will 
be  much  interested  in  hearino^  somethino^ 
atout  this  great  and  beautiful  city,  in  which 
I  now  am.  I  cannot  describe  to  you  half  I 
see,  for  this  would  occupy  many  letters,  more 
than  I  have  time  to  write.  I  must  keep  the 
account  of  many  things  to  tell  you  of  when  I 
return  home.  This  is  a  wonderful  city,  and 
full  of  objects,  in  all  directions,  which  would 
amuse  you,  and  I  often  wish  that  I  had  you 
both  here,  to  walk  about  with  me. 

"  The  streets  are  large,  and  crowded  with 
carriages,  and  persons  walking,  and  the  shop 
windows  are  filled  with  beautiful  things, 
which  would  tempt  one  much  to  buy  were 
they  not  so  costly.  One  of  the  things,  how- 
ever, which  I  dare  say  would  strike  Henry 
much,  would  be  to  see  little  carts  drawn  by 
one  and  often  two  dogs.  The  men  have  them 
to  carry  about  things  to  sell.  The  dogs  are 
regularly  harnessed,  and  they  are  as  obedi- 


88  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WAIN  WEIGHT. 


ent  as  possible,  stojDping  or  going  forward, 
just  as  tlieir  master  tells  tliem.  Tliey  have 
little  donkeys,  too,  not  higlier  than  a  table, 
with  saddles  on  them,  for  little  children  Jo 
ride  npon. 

"  London  has  a  great  many  most  beautiful 
parks  and  squares.  The  parks  are  much  lar- 
ger than  the  Common  in  Boston,  and  they 
have  large  sheets  of  Avater  in  them,  on  which 
the  beautiful  swans  and  ducks  are  swimming: 
about  all  the  time.  These  parks  are  filled 
with  persons  walking  about,  and  especially 
young  people,  with  their  nurses  and  attend- 
ants. I  very  often  see  the  children  amusing 
themselves  with  throwing  pieces  of  bread  and 
cake  into  the  water,  and  then  the  swans  come 
swimming  up  as  fast  as  they  can,  to  catch 
them,  to  the  great  delight  of  the  children.  I 
wish  you  could  both  have  been  with  me  to 
see  a  fine  display  that  I  saw  of  5,000  soldiers, 
in  Hyde  Park.  It  was  a  great  review.  I 
saw  the  king  and  queen  there,  the  Duke  of 


DUKE  OF  Wellington's  dinner.         89 


"Wellington,  and  many  other  distinguished 
personages.  The  troops  were  very  hand- 
some, and  the  bands  of  music  were  playing 
all  the  time  delightfully. 

"After  exercising,  they  had  a  great  deal 
of  firing  of  guns  and  cannons,  in  imitation  of 
a  battle.  It  was  in  commemoration  of  the 
battle  of  "Waterloo.  The  Duke  of  Wellington 
gave  a  great  dinner  to  the  King,  and  to  the 
Prince  of  Orange,  and  the  officers  who  fought 
with  him  at  the  battle  of  "Waterloo.  I  got 
permission  to  go  in  and  see  the  tables  as  tliey 
were  laid  out  for  the  banquet,  and  a  very  su- 
perb sight  it  was.  Such  quantities  of  gold  and 
silver  plate  I  had  never  seen,  before,  nor  any- 
thing so  beautiful  as  the  room  in  which  the 
table  was  spread.  It  was  very  difficult  to 
get  admission,  and  only  those  were  permit- 
ted to  go  in  who  had  written  orders. 

"I  have  seen  a  great  many  lords  and 
ladies,  etc.,  and  dined  with  them,  but  I  have 
always   found    them   very  kind    and    atten- 

8* 


90  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WAINWRIGHT. 


tive,  and  unaffected  in  tlieir  manners.  I 
have  never  seen  any  of  them  takmg  upon 
themselves  any  ah^s  in  consequence  of  their 
rank  or  wealth.  On  the  contrary,  they  are 
some  of  the  pleasantest  people  I  have  ever 
seen.  I  wish  you  both  to  remember  how  im- 
portant it  is  to  cultivate  an  amiable  charac- 
ter and  gentlemanly  manners.  Next  to  be- 
ing good  at  heart,  this  is  most  important  in 
our  intercourse  with  the  world.  Indeed,  truly 
good  manners  will  be  found  only  in  him  who 
possesses  good  principles,  and  self-control, 
and  kind  affections. 

"I  have  been  also  in  the  House  of  Lords, 
to  hear  them  speak.  I  think  that  Mayhew  is 
old  enough  to  have  enjoyed  this,  in  some  de- 
gree.  I  heard  the  Dnke  of  Wellington  speak, 
and  Lord  Lyndhurst,  Lord  Shelboiirne,  Lord 
Holland,  Lord  Grey,  and  many  others. 

"  But  you  both  would  have  been  delighted 
with  another  sight  I  had,  of  all  the  king's 
horses  and  carriages.     The  king's  son,  Lord 


MANY   THINGS    UNTOLD.  91 


Adolphus  Fitz-Clarence,  went  round  with 
me,  to  show  me  them.  I  also  saw  two  of  the 
king's  parlors ;  but  I  shall  have  to  describe 
all  these  things  to  you  when  I  see  you.  I 
will  write  to  you  again,  dear  boys,  before 
long.  I  hope  you  are  both  well,  and  are  at- 
tentive to  your  studies.  Remember  how  im- 
portant your  time  is,  and  how  much  your 
father's  and  mother's  happiness  depends  upon 
you. 

"  Believe  me,  my  dear  boys,   your  most 
affectionate  father, 

"  JoN.  M.  Wainweight." 


LETTER   FROM  SHEFFIELD VISITS  THE  MANUFAOTOEIES 

PENKNIVES DUBLIN EDINBCJEGH — SIGHT    OF     GEE  AT 

MEN OHTJECHES    AND    CASTLES LARGEST     OEGAN    IN 

THE    WOELD PAETING    ADVICE TWO    EEASONS    FOE 

PUBLISHING    THESE    LETTEES A  LETTEE    FEOM  BOSTON 

ALL   WELL IMPEOVEMENT    OF    PEESENT    PEIVILEGE8 

MAKING  one's  WAT  IN  THE  WOELD PEESENTS  FEOM 

EUEOPE — "the  value  OF  MONET." 

THE  next  letter  from  Dr.  TVainwriglit  to 
his  sons  was  written  several  months  after 
the  last,  and  when  his  foreign  tour  was  nearly 
ended. 

"Sheffield,  Oct.  20th,  1826. 

"My  Dear  Boys — It  is  some  time  since 
your  father  has  written  to  you,  but  he  has 
been  in  such  constant  motion,  in  going  from 
place  to  place,  that  he  has  hardly  found  time 
for  writing  more  than  to  your  mother.     How- 


VISITS   THE   MANUFACTOKIES.  93 


ever,  my  dear  sons,  I  have  been  laying  up  in 
store  a  great  many  things  to  tell  you  when 
I  return,  which  I  hope,  by  God's  permission, 
will  be  soon.  I  have  very  often,  in  the 
course  of  my  travels,  thought  of  you  both, 
and  wished  I  had  you  with  me  to  look  at  the 
things  I  have  seen.  For  instance,  to-day  I 
have  been  looking  at  the  manufactories  in 
this  place,  and  have  seen  them  make  knives, 
and  razors,  and  saws,  and  files,  and  all  such 
articles. 

"You  might  not  have  understood  every 
process,  but  I  am  sure  you  would  have  been 
gratified  to  see  how  a  penknife  was  produced 
from  a  piece  of  iron.  I  can  tell  you  all 
about  it  when  I  return,  and  I  have  bought 
knives  for  you,  which  I  shall  bring  home 
with  me. 

"  Before  I  came  to  this  town,  I  travelled  in 
Scotland  and  Ireland.  I  was  several  days  in 
Dublin,  which  is  a  very  beautiful  city,  but 
not  quite  as  handsome  as  Edinburgh.     This 


94:  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WAINWKIGHT. 


is  one  of  the  finest  places  I  have  ever  seen. 
In  my  way  to  it  from  Ireland,  I  saw  Loch 
Lomond,  Loch  Katrine,  Ben  Yenue,  and 
other  places  mentioned  by  Sir  Walter  Scott. 

"  At  Edinburgh  I  saw  Holyrood  Palace, 
the  Castle,  and  many  other  places  that  are 
often  mentioned  in  history.  I  saw  also  sev- 
eral distinguished  men,  whose  names  perhaps 
Mayhew  may  have  heard  of,  such  as  Dr. 
Chalmers,  Lord  Jeffrey,  Lord  Brougham,  etc. 

"  I  am  now  travelling  in  England,  on  my 
way  to  London  again.  This  is  a  very  delight- 
ful country  to  travel  in,  the  roads  are  so  good, 
and  the  horses  and  carriages  so  fine.  The 
country  also  is  very  beautifully  cultivated, 
and  is  delightful  to  look  at.  There  are  many 
old  churches  and  castles  to  be  seen ;  some 
of  which  have  been  built  for  hundreds  of 
years. 

"  The  cathedrals  are  very  magnificent. 
I  have  recently  seen  Durham  and  York 
Minster.     The  organ  in  the  latter  is  one  of 


PAETING    ADVICE.  95 


tlie  largest,  if  not  the  largest,  in  the  world. 
Some  of  the  pipes  are  more  than  thirty  feet 
high  and  two  feet  wide,  and  when  they 
sound  they  shake  the  buikling  like  thunder. 
I  think,  when  I  see  you,  I  can  tell  you  of  all 
these  things  better  than  I  can  describe  them 
in  a  letter.  I  hope  to  be  at  home  before 
Christmas  day. 

"I  shall  now  go  to  London  as  soon  as  I 
can,  and  shall  then  be  able  to  say  when  I 
can  get  away,  so  as  to  embark  from  Liver- 
pool. I  trust,  my  dear  boys,  that  you  are 
both  pursuing  your  studies  with  diligence, 
and  that  I  shall  have  a  good  account  of  you 
when  I  return.  Do  not  lose  your  present 
favorable  opportunities  to  get  knowledge, 
and  above  all  things,  my  dear  sons,  remem- 
ber your  Creator,  and  in  your  daily  prayers 
beseech  Him  to  enable  you  ever  to  love  and 
serve  Him.  Believe  me,  dearest  boys,  ever 
your  affectionate  father, 

"  JoN.  M.  Watnwright." 


96  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WATNWEIGHT. 


"  What  a  kind,  thoughtful,  and  affectionate 
letter !"  must  be  the  reflection  of  every  one 
who  reads  it. 

I  have  two  reasons  for  preserving  as  many 
of  these  epistles  as  possible ;  first,  because  I 
think  they  will  please  and  benefit  ckildren^ 
and  secondly,  that  parents  may  have  a  suit- 
able model  set  before  them  for  imitation. 
Fathers  are  too  apt  to  content  themselves 
with  brief  and  hasty  letters  to  their  sons, 
wliile  absent  at  school,  and  many  evil  ways 
into  which  the  young  are  so  easily  enticed 
might  have  been  escaped,  had  more  kind  and 
considerate  communications  been  received 
from  the  dear  ones  at  home. 

Soon  after  Dr.  Wainwright's  return  from 
England,  he  writes  again  to  his  sons,  who  were 
attending  the  Rev.  Mr.  Huddart's  Academy, 
at  Bloomingdale,  I^ew  York. 

"Boston,  Feb.  \st,  1837. 

"  My  Dear  Boys — After  I  parted  with  you 
on  "Wednesday  last,  I  had,  upon  the  whole, 


» 

ALL    WELL.  97 


quite  a  comfortable  passage,  although  we 
were  somewhat  detained  hy  the  ice.  I  got 
home  at  4  o'clock  on  Thursday,  and  found 
your  dear  mother  and  the  children  all  well. 
I  have  now  seen  you  all  except  Howard,  and 
I  shall  go  as  soon  as  I  can  to  Hartford  to  see 
the  dear  boy.  How  thankful  I  am  to  find 
you  all  well,  and,  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  doing 
well  at  your  respective  schools !  I  trust  now 
that  you  are  both  fully  aware  of  the  import- 
ance of  good  conduct  and  of  industrious  hab- 
its, and  that  you  find  it  to  be  a  source  of 
sincere  pleasure  to  yourselves  to  make  your 
parents  happy,  and  to  secure  the  approbation 
of  your  friends.  I  want  you  both  to  write  to 
me  at  least  as  often  as  once  a  fortnight,  and 
write  to  me  freely,  not  only  as  your  father, 
but  as  a  friend  who  loves  you  better  than 
any  other  friend  can.  I  shall  also  write  to 
you  such  counsels  as  may  from  time  to  time 
occur  to  my  mind.  You  both  of  you  know 
that  you  have  to  make  your  own  way  in  the 

9 


98  LIFE    OF   BISHOP   WAINWEIGHT. 


world,  and  that  I  can  have  nothing  more  to 
give  you  than  your  education.  I  do  not  re- 
gret this,  for  I  have  had  to  do  the  same  my- 
self, and  from  what  I  have  observed,  as  n 
general  rule,  those  men  are  the  best,  and 
happiest,  and  most  respected,  who  get  on  by 
their  own  energies.  Now  is  your  time  for 
pre23aration ;  for  every  hour  that  you  are  now 
industrious  in  acquiring  useful  information, 
and  in  preparing  for  active  life,  you  will  be 
ever  thankful ;  and  time  lost  in  your  youth  you 
will  regret  more  and  more  the  longer  you  live. 

"  I  send  you,  by  this  opportunity,  the  two 
knives  I  bought  for  you.  They  are  very 
good  ones,  I  believe.  The  handles  are  of 
cocoa-nut  wood,  but  they  will  principally  in- 
terest you  as  having  been  bought  by  me  ex- 
pressly for  you  at  the  manufacturer's  in  Shef- 
field. I  also  send  a  pearl-handled  knife, 
which  I  bought  at  the  same  time,  for  Mr. 
Huddart ;  give  it  to  him  with  my  best  regards. 

"  In  the  parcel  you  will  find  a  few  marbles 


"  VALUE   OF   MONEY."  99 


of  agate  and  jasper,  which  I  got  at  the  val- 
ley of  Chamouni,  in  Switzerland.  They  were 
got  at  Mont  Blanc.  There  are  four  cakes  of 
scented  soap,  two  for  each  of  yon,  which  I 
got  in  London.  Your  ma  thought  you  would 
like  them.  I  bought  a  number  of  books, 
which  I  shall  send  you  from  time  to  time. 
I  wish  you,  aftei-  reading  them,  to  put  them 
up  carefully,  as  Elizabeth,  and  Howard,  and, 
by-and-by,  the  others,  must  have  them. 
Kead  the  '  Yalue  of  Money'  attentively,  and 
let  me  know  your  opinion  about  it. 

^'  I  inclose  in  this  letter  five  dollars.  Your 
grandmother  Wardsworth  gave  your  ma  two 
dollars  for  each  of  you,  for  J^ew  Year's  pres- 
ents, but  your  ma  thought  you  would  prefer 
the  money.  The  half  dollar  for  each,  I  add. 
Do  not  spend  any  till  you  have  both  read  the 
'  Yalue  of  Money.'  And  now,  my  very  dear 
boys,  farewell. 

"  E^er  your  affectionate  father, 

*' Jon.  M.  Wainwright." 


A  LITTLE  CIRCUMSTANCE ANXIETY  OF  PAEENTS GENTLE 

EEPKOOF WISE    MAXIM PEOMPTNESS  ESSENTIAL  TO  A 

merchant's    SUCCESS THE    COMFORTS  OF  OLD  AGE    TO 

BE    PROVIDED  FOR    IN  YOUTH — NO  ASSURANCE  OF  LONG 

LIFE THE    DUTY  OF    AN    ELDER    BROTHER    TOWARDS   A 

YOUNGER LEGIBLE   HANDWRITING LESSONS  OF  EXPE- 

EIENCE WATCHFULNESS    OVER    ONe's    TEMPER THE 

DISAGREEMENTS  OF  BROTHERS. 

AT  the  close  of  the  spring  vacation,  Dr. 
Wainwright's  sons  returned  to  Mr. 
Hiiddart's  school,  but,  with  the  thoughtless- 
ness of  youth,  they  forgot  how  anxious  their 
parents  would  be  to  hear  of  their  safe  arrival. 
This  little  circumstance  was  the  occasion  of 
the  next  letter,  which  is  addressed  to  May- 
hew.  The  counsels  which  it  conveys  are 
worthy  of  being  treasured  up  by  all  young 
persons. 


GENTLE  REPROOF.  101 


"  Boston,  Ajn-il  19th,  1837. 

"  My  Dear  Son — I  have  an  opportunity  to 
send  jou  a  line,  and  jour  mother  is  going  to 
put  up  some  things  for  you  and  your  brother. 

"  We  were  very  glad  to  hear  from  you  at 
last,  after  your  safe  arrival  at  school.  We 
had  begun  to  be  quite  impatient.  Indeed, 
you  should  have  written  to  us  at  an  earlier 
date,  certainly  within  two  days  after  your 
return,  for,  had  you  thought  a  moment,  you 
would  have  known  that  we  must  have  been 
quite  anxious  to  hear  of  your  safety  and  com- 
fort, and  that  of  your  brother.  You  say  in 
your  letter,  that  you  were  prevented  by  '  one 
or  two  little  things.'  ISTow  you  know  that 
one  or  two  little  things  are  not  a  sufficient 
reason  for  neglecting  a  duty  to  your  parents. 
It  would  have  been  easy  to  find  time  for  a 
short  letter.  But  I  will  not  dwell  upon  this. 
I  only  mention  it  in  order  to  urge  npon  you 
the  importance  of  never  putting  off  till  to- 
morrow what  should  be  done  to  day.     This 


102  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WAINWKIGHT. 


maxim  deserves  the  serious  notice  of  every 
person ;  but  it  is  particularly  important  to  one 
who  designs  to  be  a  merchant.  There  is  no 
one  quality  more  essential  to  success  in  this 
profession  than  punctuality.  A  merchant's 
letter  should  never  be  a  day  or  even  an  hour 
behind  the  time  when  it  should  be  written  or 
sent.  Remember  this,  for  the  most  serious 
consequences  might  arise  from  neglect  in  such 
cases. 

"  I  hope,  my  dear  son,  you  are  now  fully 
aware  of  the  importance  of  employing  your 
time  most  industriously,  and  availing  your- 
self of  the  advantages  you  have.  The  more 
industrious  you  are  in  youth  and  in  early 
life,  the  greater  comfort  you  will  enjoy  in 
middle  age,  and  in  advanced  life,  should  you 
be  spared  so  long.  And  ever  remember 
that  we  have  no  assurance  for  any  continu- 
ance here,  and  therefore  that  we  should,  above 
all  things,  be  anxious  to  be  prepared  for  death 
whenever  it  may  come.     If  you  knew  how 


DUTY  OF  AN    ELDER  BROTHER.     103 


mucli  jour  motlier  and  I  depended  upon  you, 
as  our  oldest  child,  and  what  comfort  we 
hope  to  have  in  you,  you  would  endeavor 
always  to  do  right,  whatever  sacrifice  and 
self-denial  it  might  cost  you.  You  cannot 
get  along  in  the  world  successfully  and  hap- 
pily without  self-denial.     Remember  this. 

"  Give  my  best  love  to  your  dear  brother ; 
be  watchful  over  him,  but  do  not  attempt  to 
tyrannize  over  him,  as  I  have  sometimes  seen 
older  brothers  do  over  their  younger.  Be 
ever  kind  and  aflfectionate,  and  if  you  have 
to  warn  or  advise,  never  do  it  in  anger. 
Your  mother,  I  dare  say,  will  tell  you  all 
about  the  family.  And  now,  my  dear  sons, 
may  God  ever  bless  you  both,  and  lead  you 
in  his  fear  and  love. 

"  Your  affectionate  father, 

"  Jox.  M.  Wain  WRIGHT. 

"  P.  S.  Strive  hard  to  write  a  legible,  rap- 
id, and  handsome  hand ;  tliis  is  very  import- 
ant for  a  merchant." 


lO-i  LIFE   OF   BISHOP    WAIN  WEIGHT. 


This  gentle  reproof,  so  kindly  administered, 
was  received  in  the  spirit  of  an  affectionate 
child,  and  a  letter  of  apology  was  promptly 
returned.     Dr.  Wainwright  thus  replies : 

"BosrroN,  Mai/ Sd,  1837. 

"  My  Dear  Son — I  was  pleased  at  the 
punctuality  of  your  reply  to  my  last  letter, 
and  your  observance  of  the  maxim  I  gave 
you.  Be  assured  that  it  is  a  very  important 
one,  and  if  observed  through  life  will  save 
you  a  vast  deal  of  time,  and  from  many  anx- 
ieties and  disappointments.  There  are  very 
few  feelings  more  painful  than  that  of  reflect- 
ing that  you  have  neglected  what  you  ought 
to  have  attended  to  yesterday,  and  finding 
that  now  it  is  too  late,  because  the  moment 
has  passed  by,  or  because  other  engagements 
press  upon  yon.  If  you  can  be  punctual  in 
the  discharge  of  every  duty,  and  get  before- 
hand, as  it  were,  with  all  your  occupations, 
you  will  derive  the  greatest  comfort  and  ad- 
vantage from  such  a  habit. 


LEGIBLE   HAJjnDWEITING.  105 


"  In  looking  back  upon  my  past  life,  I  see 
that  it  would  have  been  of  the  greatest  serv- 
ice to  me  had  I  acquired  it  early  in  life.  I 
am  very  anxious  that  my  children  should 
learn  from  my  experience,  and  I  shall  en- 
deavor that  they  may  not  be  exposed  to  many 
things  which  I  have  suffered  from. 

"The  welfare  of  our  children  is  the  object 
that  constantly  occupies  the  thoughts  and 
engages  the  prayers  of  myself  and  your 
mother.  I  trust,  my  dear  boy,  that  we  shall 
have  our  reward  in  the  good  conduct  of  those 
who  are  infinitely  dearer  to  us  than  any 
other  earthly  object.  I  must  say  again,  that 
I  am  anxious  about  your  handwriting.  You 
are  improving,  but  not  as  fast  as  I  could 
wish  in  this  particular.  Do  you  practise 
enough  ?  Be  careful  of  your  spelling,  and  do 
not  make  blots  and  erasures.  This  is  more 
important  for  a  merchant  than  a  literary  man. 
We  are  too  apt  to  be  careless  in  this  matter. 
Give  your  mind  closely  to  your  studies.     Try 


106  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WAIN  WEIGHT. 


to  understand  tliorouglilj  every  thing  you 
take  in  hand.  Above  all  things,  keep  a 
watch  over  your  temper.  Do  not  be  impe- 
rious to  your  brother,  but  watch  over  him 
with  kindness,  and  if  he  does  any  thing 
wrong,  do  not  rebuke,  but  advise  him  affec- 
tionately. 

"  Ever  your  affectionate  father, 

"  JoN.  M.  Wainwbight." 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  two  brothers  in 
the  same  school,  and  especially  in  the  same 
class,  are  more  apt  to  get  along  badly  to- 
gether, than  perfect  strangers  do.  Hence 
the  need  of  forbearance  on  the  part  of  both. 
The  hints  contained  in  Dr.  Wainwright's  let- 
ters, on  this  subject,  are  of  the  greatest  value, 
and  I  trust  that  they  may  not  be  overlooked. 


filjaptn"  Sljirtteittlj. 

THE  YOUNG  MIDSHIPMAN A    BEAUTIFUL   LETTER RULES 

FOR     AN     OFFICER    TO     LIVE     BY THE     ONLY    WAY    IN 

WHICH  THEY  CAN  BE  CARRIED  OUT TIME  FOR  READ- 
ING   THE    BIBLE,  AND    FOR    PRAYER IMPORTANCE  OF  A 

JOURNAL A    PLACE     AMONG    HONORED     NAMES — CALL 

TO    RETURN    TO     NEW     YORK FINAL     DECISION  —  THE 

WORK    OF    SEVENTEEN   YEARS PUBLIC    TRUSTS THE 

WORLD  OF  SCIENCE  AND  ART— THE  SECRET  OF  BEING 
ABLE  TO  ACCOMPLISH  MUCH PATIENCE  AT  INTERRUP- 
TION. 

OINTE  of  Dr.  Wainwright's  sons  entered 
the  navy,  and  while  occupying  the  post 
of  a  midshipman,  he  received  the  following 
beautiful  letter  from  his  father: 

*'  Boston,  Jxdy  2Sth,  1837. 
"  My  Dear  Son — Your  letter  gave  me  the 
greatest  pleasure.     To  hear  of  you,  and  that 
you  were  well  and  contented,  was  cause  of 


108  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WAIN  WEIGHT. 


great  thankfulness.  I  trust  to  learn  that  you 
are  now  devotedly  attentive  to  your  duties, 
are  assiduously  learning  all  you  can,  and  thus 
give  promise  of  one  day  making  a  distinguish- 
ed officer.  I  have  said  it  to  you  before,  but 
it  is  so  important  for  you  to  think  of  it,  that  I 
cannot  help  repeating  the  caution  ;  noio  is 
your  time  for  improvement  and  for  forming 
the  character  that  will  probably  attach  to 
you  during  life.  The  next  five  years,  if  well 
employed,  will  place  you  in  a  position  of 
honor  and  comparative  safety,  should  you 
live  so  long ;  but  if  you  waste  and  idle  away 
these  five  years,  you  never  can  recover  the 
loss ;  repentance,  the  most  anxious  exertions, 
and  floods  of  tears  cannot  then  put  you  in  the 
situation  which  you  should  fill. 

"In  my  view,  it  depends  upon  these  ^yq 
years,  whether  for  the  remainder  of  your  life 
you  are  a  disgrace  to  your  friends  and  a 
miserable  burden  to  yourself,  or,  on  the  other 
hand,  our  pride  and  delight,  and  happy  in 


A    BEAUTIFUL    LETTER.  109 


yourself  as  you  are  esteemed  and  loved  by  all 
around  yon.  Think  of  this  daily,  and  never 
give  way  to  indolence  or  dissipation  of  any 
kind.  By  assiduous  and  prompt  attention  to 
duty,  by  anxiety  to  learn  all  you  cnn,  by  re- 
spectful and  affectionate  behavior  to  your 
brother  officers,  and  by  kind  and  considerate, 
but  yet  firm  and  dignified,  deportment  to  the 
men,  endeavor  to  form  a  character  which 
must  command  the  esteem  of  all. 

"  I  need  not  speak  upon  the  importance  of 
truth,  and  unbending  integrity  in  every  word 
and  action,  of  unwavering  courage  in  every 
emergency,  and  of  uniform  habits  of  temper- 
ance ;  for  if  I  did  not  think  that  you  possessed 
and  valued  these  qualities,  I  should  never 
have  consented  to  your  entering  the  service 
of  your  country.  Tell  the  truth,  fear  jiothing, 
command  your  temper,  and  restrain  your  ap- 
petites, reverence  your  Maker,  and  remember 
your  future  accountability  to  Him.  Let  these 
precepts  mingle  with  every  thought  and  ac- 

10 


110  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WAINWRIGIIT. 


tion  of  your  life.  I  doubt  not,  my  dear  son, 
that  this  advice  will  recommend  itself  to  your 
good  sense,  that  you  will  say  it  is  all  right ; 
but  the  question  is  how  you  are  to  keep  it  in 
constant  influence.  Only  one  way  :  by  mak- 
ing your  conduct  daily  the  subject  of  self-in- 
quiry, and  by  offering  to  God  daily  prayer 
that  He  would  instruct,  guide,  and  sustain 
you.  Never  turn  into  your  hammock  at 
night  without  thinking,  if  it  be  but  for  two 
minutes,  how  you  have  passed  the  day, 
whether  you  have  employed  it  as  well  as  you 
could  have  done,  and  without  offering  your 
prayers  to  God  for  his  protection  and  bless- 
ing. And  every  time  you  rise  to  your  watch, 
let  your  thoughts  ascend  in  prayer  to  your 
Maker. 

"  I  know  that  on  board  of  a  ship  of  war  there 
is  little  or  no  opportunity  for  retired  thoughts, 
and  that  there  is  much  that  is  unfavorable  to 
a  life  of  devotion.  Still,  there  is  no  situation 
where  dependence  upon  God  should  be  more 


KrLES   FOR   AN   OFFICER.  Ill 


constantly  felt,  and  you  certainly  can  find 
brief  spaces  of  time  for  secret  prayer.  The 
heart  can  always  pray,  even  if  there  be  no 
place  to  bend  the  knees.  Frequently,  and 
for  a  moment  or  two,  you  can  lift  up  your 
thoughts.  I  would,  too,  that  you  could  find 
time  for  reading  in  your  Bible,  if  it  be  only 
eight  or  ten  verses  each  day.  On  Sundays, 
I  trust  you  will  give  more  time  to  this  duty. 
But  I  have  said  enough  for  this  time.  I  trust, 
my  dear  son,  you  will  not  find  it  tedious. 
May  God  be  with  you.  Let  us  know  how 
you  get  on,  every  opportunity.  Keep  a  daily 
journal ;  by  all  means  keep  a  journal.  If  you 
have  not  begun,  begin  this  day. 

"Ever  your  afiectionate  father, 

"  JoN.  M.  Wainwright." 

The  hand  which  wrote  these  lines  is  now 
cold  in  death,  but  this  excellent  advice  has 
not  been  lost  upon  him  for  whose  benefit  it 
was  given.     He  is  now  a  lieutenant  in  the 


112  LIFE    OF    EISIIOP    WAINWKIGHT. 


navy,  and  perhaps,  in  course  of  time,  among 
the  names  of  Decatuk,  and  Perry,  and  those 
other  heroes  whom  America  deli  splits  to  hon- 
or,  the  son  of  Bishop  Wainwkight  may  find 
a  conspicuous  place. 

About  two  years  after  Dr.  Wainwright's 
removal  to  Boston,  he  was  invited  to  resume 
his  former  position  as  an  assistant  minister  of 
Trinity  Church,  New  York ;  but  although 
this  call  was  seconded  by  the  earnest  solici- 
tations of  his  old  parishioners  and  friends,  he 
felt  obliged  to  decline.  A  year  later  (Janu- 
ary, 1838),  the  invitation  was  renewed,  and 
with  the  full  persuasion  that  the  interests  of 
the  Church,  on  the  whole,  would  be  promoted 
thereby,  he  resigned  the  charge  of  his  parish 
in  Boston. 

In  hi-s  labors  in  ]S"ew  York  city,  while 
officiating  in  Trinity  Church,  and  her  two 
chapels,  as  occasion  might  require,  St.  John's 
was  more  especially  assigned  to  Dr.  Wain- 
wright,   as   being  under  his   pastoral   care. 


WOKLD    OF    SCIENCE   AND    AET.  113 


This  arrangement  was  most  happily  continued 
for  seventeen  years.  But  besides  his  duties 
in  Trinity  Parish,  he  discharged  many  public 
trusts,  the  mere  enumeration  of  which  is  ap- 
palling. He  was,  for  a  long  period,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Standing  Committee  of  the  Diocese 
of  New  York,  and  represented  the  Diocese 
in  the  General  Convention  of  1832.  From 
1841,  until  after  his  consecration  as  Bishop, 
in  1852,  he  was  Secretary  of  the  House  of 
Bishops.  He  also  bore  a  prominent  part  in 
conducting  some  of  the  more  important  soci- 
eties of  the  Church,  such  as  the  Bible  and 
Prayer  Book  Society,  the  Tract  Society,  and 
the  Sunday  School  Union. 

Moreover,  his  influence  was  felt  in  the 
world  of  Science  and  Art ;  and  still,  no  duty 
was  neglected.  He  never  seemed  in  a  hurry, 
or  overtasked  with  work,  and  was  always 
ready  to  welcome  the  presence  of  a  friend. 
It  was  a  wonder  to  many  how  he  accom- 
plished so  much,  and  did  everything  so  well. 

10* 


114:  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WAIN  WEIGHT. 


The  secret  was  this — ^he  rose  early  ;  saved  all 
the  odds  and  ends  of  time  ;  laid  out  his  work 
in  a  systematic  way ;  and  kept  at  it  until  it 
was  done.  In  this  connection,  the  writer 
hopes  that  he  may  be  pardoned  for  quoting  a 
single  paragraph  from  a  letter  w^ith  which  he 
has  been  favored  by  her  who  knew  Bishop 
Wain  Wright  best. 

"  One  trait  in  my  blessed  husband's  char- 
acter which  I  think  it  well  for  you  to  know, 
was  his  wonderful  patience  at  interruption, 
even  when  engaged  in  important  studies,  or 
in  any  other  engrossing  pursuit.  I  have  of- 
ten and  often  been  astonished  at  it.  When- 
ever even  children  would  call  upon  him  (no 
matter  how  much  engaged),  he  was  always 
ready,  with  a  smile,  to  attend  to  their  requests. 
You  may  call  this  a  small  virtue ;  but  I  think 
it  is  a  very  important  one." 


THE   MILD   Am)    GENTLE    MAN   SHOWS   THAT    HE    HAS   THE 

NERVE  AND  FIRMNESS  OF  A  HERO THE   NEW  ENGLAND 

SOCIETY  AND  ME.  CHOATE's  ORATION RAPTUROUS  AP- 
PLAUSE  THE  INTERPRETATION  WHICH  DR.  WAIN- 
WRIGHT    PUT    UPON    IT — DR.    potts'    CHALLENGE — THE 

CONTROVERSY    AND      ITS     RESULTS MORE    PEACEFUL 

THEMES YOUNG    LADIES'    CLASS SERMON    FULL    OF 

COMFORT WHOOPING-COUGH  LATE  IN  LIFE THE  PHY- 
SICIAN'S VETO  ON    LABOR LIBERALITY    OF   TRINITY   TO 

HER  MINISTERS — ^ANOTHER  AND  LONGER  VISIT  ABROAD. 

DE.  WAIXWRIGHT  was  so  mild  and 
gentle  in  his  manners,  and  had  so  long 
kept  himself  aloof  from  the  troubled  field  of 
controversy,  on  which  the  orthodoxy  maintain 
the  authority  of  the  Church  against  all  who 
venture  to  make  an  assault  upon  her,  that  it 
had  been  thorght  by  some  that  his  love  of 
moderation  and  peace  would  never  permit 
him  to  take  part  in  such  a  warfare. 


116  LIFE    OF   BISHOP    WAINWEIGHT. 


During  tlie  later  years  of  his  life,  an  occa- 
sion presented  itself,  when  the  man  of  elegant 
letters  and  the  eloquent  preacher  pros^ed  to 
the  satisfaction  of  all,  that  he  possessed  the 
nerve  and  vigor  to  contend  unflinchingly  for 
the  truth,  at  whatever  hazard  of  losing  the 
friendship  of  the  world. 

At  the  anniversary  of  the  'New  England 
Society,  held  in  l^ew  York,  on  the  22d  of 
December,  18-13,  Mr.  Rufus  Choate,  an  emi- 
nent lawyer  of  Massachusetts,  delivered  the 
oration.  In  the  course  of  his  remarks,  while 
tracing  the  career  of  the  Puritans,  whose 
landing  at  Plymouth  they  had  met  to  cele- 
brate, he  said,  that  having  fled  from  foreign 
oppression  to  these  distant  shores,  ^'  they 
found  a  State  without  a  King,  and  a  Church 
without  a  Bishop."  This  sentiment  was  re- 
ceived by  the  audience  with  loud  and  pro- 
tracted applause. 

At  the  public  dinner,  on  that  day,  a  toast 
was  given,  "The  Clergy  of  l^ew  England," 


NEKYE    AND    FIRMNESS    OF    A    HERO.       117 


to  wliicli  Dr.  Waiiiwriglit  was  called  upon  to 
reply.  He  did  so,  and  in  the  course  of  his 
address  he  repeated  the  unfortunate  remark 
of  Mr.  Clioate,  which  had  grated  so  harshly 
on  his  ear,  wlien  he  also  was  interrupted  by 
tumultuous  cheering.  »Feeling  that  the  hon- 
or of  God's  holy  Church  was  thus  rudely  and 
ruthlessly  assailed,  Dr.  Wainwright  said  to 
the  presiding  officer,  with  his  own  majestic 
manner,  "I^ow,  sir,  notwithstanding  this 
strong  burst-of  approbation  to  the  sentiment, 
were  this  a  proper  arena,  should  even  the 
orator  of  the  day  throw  down  his  gauntlet,  I 
would  take  it  up,  and  say,  There  cannot  be 
A  Church  without  a  Bishop." 

Soon  afterwards,  Dr.  George  Potts,  a 
prominent  Presbyterian  divine,  of  the  Old 
School,  addressed  a  letter  to  Dr.  Wainwright, 
through  the  columns  of  a  newspaper,  calling 
him  to  account  for  what  he  had  said,  and  of- 
fering to  debate  with  him  the  position,  that 
"  there  cannot  be  a  Church  without  a  Bishop." 


118  LIFE   OF   BISHOP    WAINWKIGHT. 


He,  however,  expresses  the  hope  that  he  has 
been  misinformed  as  to  the  purport  of  the 
speech,  and  that  so  courteous  a  gentleman 
had  not  been  thus  far  betrayed  into  the  ex- 
pression of  harsh  and  uncharitable  judgment 
against  his  neighbors. 

I  cannot  refrain  from  giving  a  part  of  Dr. 
Wainwright's  eloquent  and  manly  response. 
After  stating  that  he  had  received  a  special 
invitation  to  hear  Mr.  Choate's  oration,  and 
that  he  had  gone,  as  the  son  of  a  New  Eng- 
land mother,  to  show  his  resj)ect  for  all  that 
was  high-minded  and  noble  in  the  character 
of  the  Puritans,  he  then  refers  to  the  objec- 
tionable remark  of  the  orator,  and  the  ecstatic 
delio:ht  with  which  it  was  welcomed.  "  Had 
the  sentiment  produced  only  the  applause 
which  follows  the  happy  expressions  of  every 
popular  speaker,  had  it  been  cheered  even  in 
the  same  degree  with  other  emphatic  portions 
of  the  oration,  I  should  have  taken  no  notice 
of  it.     But  the  cheering  was  obviously,  to 


DR.    potts'    CnALLENGE.  119 


mj  apprehension,  not  that  of  approbation  of 
the  orator,  but  of  defiance  of  such  as  did  not 
sympathize  with  the  sentiment.  It  seemed 
to  me  to  speak  this  language :  IS'ow,  you  ad- 
vocates of  Prelacy,  we  have  you ;  we  are  in 
the  majority ;  we  will  make  you  feel  how  we 
detest  your  opinions,  and  if  we  cannot  drive 
you  from  them,  we  will  show  you  how  un- 
popular they  are,  and  at  least,  if  we  can, 
make  you  ashamed  of  them." 

This  is  undoubtedly  the  true  interpretation 
of  the  rapturous  applause  which  followed 
Mr.  Choate's  epigrammatic  remark.  Dr. 
Wainwrio;ht  felt  oblis^ed  to  vindicate  the 
honor  of  the  Church,  and  he  did  not  shrink 
from  the  performance  of  so  unpopular  a 
duty. 

The  challenge  of  Dr.  Potts  was  accepted, 
and  although  his  antagonist  modestly  ob- 
served, before  the  contest  began,  that  he  did 
not  believe  that  either  party  could  throw  any 
additional  light  upon  a  question  which  had 


120  LIFE    OF   BISHOP    WAIXWKIGIIT. 


been  so  often  and  so  ably  discussed,  it  must 
be  acknowledged  by  all  that  the  champion 
of  the  Church  exhibited  the  most  masterly 
skill,  and  preserved  his  Chrisjtian  temper  un- 
ruffled to  the  last.  The  effect  of  this  contro- 
versy was  to  strengthen  the  position  of  the 
Church.  This  is  not  said  in  a  boasting  spirit, 
for  with  truth  on  our  side,  the  advocate  must 
certainly  be  a  poor  one  who  does  not  finally 
prevail. 

And  here  we  gladly  lay  down  the  weapons 
of  warfare,  and  return  to  more  peaceful  and 
pleasant  themes.  It  was  during  this  period 
that  I  enjoyed  frequent  opportunities  of 
hearing  Dr.  Wainwright  preach.  Besides  all 
his  other  cares,  he  established  a  class,  for 
young  ladies,  to  be  attended,  with  his  own 
daughters,  to  carry  out  a  full  course  in  his- 
tory, literature,  and  philosophy.  A  relative 
of  ours  (now  gone  to  a  better  world)  enjoyed 
this  rare  privilege,  with  the  rest.  In  this 
way  we  learned  many  little  incidents  which 


wirooriNG-couGn  late  in  lh^e.       121 


showed  the  tenderness  and  afiection  of  Dr. 
Waimvright's  heart. 

Bj  one  of  those  reverses  of  fortune  which 
so  often  occur  in  an  overgrown  city  like  ]^ew 
York,  an  old  friend  of  his  had  suddenly  been 
reduced  from  comparative  wealth  to  strait- 
ened circumstances  ;  and  that  at  a  period  of 
life  when  too  late  to  hope  to  be  able  to  rise 
again  to  a  prosperous  state.  The  Sunday  af- 
ter this  occurrence,  Dr.  Wainwright  proposed 
an  exchange  with  the  rector  of  the  church 
where  this  friend  was  accustomed  to  worship, 
and  preached  that  beautiful  and  consoling 
sermon,  from  the  text,  "Jiy  son,  give  me 
thine  heayf'^  {Proverhs  xxiii.  26),  now  pub- 
lished with  his  other  discourses.  Tlie  sermon 
was  written,  I  believe,  some  years  before, 
at  the  request  of  Washington  Irving.  Let 
those  read  it  who  would  judge  of  its  sooth- 
ing effect. 

In  1848,  Dr.  Wainwright  had  a  severe 
attack  of  whooping-cough,  but  he  persisted  iu 

11 


122  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WAINWEIGHT. 


going  on  with  his  labors  until  his  physician, 
alarmed  at  the  unfavorable  symptoms  which 
presented  themselves,  required  him  to  abstain 
from  all  public  duty.  The  vestry  of  Trinity 
Church,  always  so  considerate  towards  their 
ministers,  allowed  him  leave  of  absence  for  a 
year,  and  provided  liberally  for  his  expenses, 
in  going  to  Europe  and  Palestine.  Two  ele- 
gant volumes,  entitled  "  The  Pathways  and 
Abiding  Places  of  our  Lord,"  and  "  The 
Land  of  Bondage,"  furnish  a  pleasing  account 
of  this  extensive  tour. 


Cljajftu  liftuntlj. 

NATURAL   DESIEE   TO    VISIT   THE   HOLT   LAND THE  FEEL- 

IJfGS  WITH    WHICH  DR.  WAINWRIGHT   WENT   THITHER 

THE    SHIPS    OF   THE    DESERT — MOUNTING   THE    CAMEL 

DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN  A  CAMEL  AND  A  DROMEDARY 
TRAVELLING  SADDLE PRATER  CARPET MANT  DIF- 
FERENT POSTURES  IN  the"  SADDLE — THREATENING  TO 
BITE THE  camel's  COMPLAINTS A  NECESSART  CAU- 
TION  FATIGUES  OF  TRAVELLING THE  CUNNING  DRAG- 
OMAN  ARRIVAL     AT     JERUSALEM GOOD    FRIDAT 

BISHOP    GOB  AT DEPARTURE SAD    AND    THOUGHTFUL 

MOMENT. 


I 


T  is  natural  that,  every  Christian  should 
feel  a  desire  to  visit  that  land 

**  Over  whose  acres  walked  those  blessed  feet, 
Which  fourteen  hundred  years  ago  were  nailed, 
For  our  advantage,  on  the  bitter  cross." 

Such  a  wish  had  long  been  cherished  by 
Dr.  Wainwright,  and  now  it  was  about  to  be 
gratified.     A   careful   study   of  every  book 


124:  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WAIN  WRIGHT. 


upon  Palestine  wliicli  liacl  fallen  in  his  way, 
had  prepared  his  mind  for  what  he  might 
expect,  and  he  visited  the  Holy  Land,  not  as 
some  have  done,  to  throw  discredit  npon 
many  of  those  traditions  which  have  come 
down  from  ancient  times,  but,  as  he  himself 
expressed  it,  "  to  see,  to  feel,  and  to  believe ; 
yielding  to  doubt  only  when  com]3elled  by 
common  sense  and  his  measure  of  inform- 
ation." 

"We  find  him,  on  the  24:th.  of  March,  1849, 
making  his  way  through  the  dreary  wilder- 
ness of  Shur,  with  his  face  turned  towards 
Jerusalem.  His  description  of  the  mode  of 
travelling  in  the  East  is  very  graphic.  "  The 
first  undertaking  is  to  mount  the  camel.  This 
proved  to  us  an  easier  task  than  we  had  an- 
ticipated. 

"  You  have  heard  of  both  camels  and 
dromedaries,  and  perhaps  suppose  them 
to  be  difi'erent,  but  they  are  precisely  the 
same  species  of  quadruped,  only  the  drome- 


FKAYER    CARPET.  125 


darj  is  selected  for  riding,  as  having  an  easier 
gait.  The  difference  is  that  which  we  lind 
between  a  saddle  horse  and  a  cart  horse. 
When  you  are  preparing  to  mount,  the  ani- 
mal, whose  head  is  up  in  the  air  beyond  your 
reach,  is  taken  by  the  halter,  and  the  keeper 
makes  a  quick  succession  of  sounds  like  hawk- 
ing from  the  upper  part  of  the  throat.  This 
brings  him  unwillingly  upon  his  knees,  then 
his  haunches,  and  he  gradually  gets  upon  his 
belly,  with  his  awkward  legs  and  cushioned 
feet  beneath  him.  Tlien  the  saddle,  whicli 
is  a  wooden  frame  padded,  and  fitting  upon 
the  hump,  with  pommels  like  short,  round 
posts,  about  eight  inches  high  before  and  be- 
hind, is  filled  out  with  cushions,  spare  coats 
and  cloaks,  or  with  the  bed-mattress,  and  the 
whole  covered  with  a  thick  soft  carpet,  shaped 
like  a  hearth  rug,  thrown  across,  called  in 
Arabic  a  seqadeh,  or  prayer  carpet ;  because 
the  Mussulman  uses  it  at  home,  and  carries 
it  with  him  in  travelling  to  stand  and  kneel 

11* 


126  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WAIN  WRIGHT. 


upon  at  his  frequent  devotions,  and  for  tins 
purpose  there  is  on  its  surface  the  figure  of  a 
niche,  to  remind  him  of  the  niche  in  the 
mosque  towards  which  he  prays,  as  making 
him  look  in  the  direction  of  Mecca.  This  we 
found  a  very  useful  and  comfortable  article, 
not  only  to  ride  upon,  but  also  to  lay  in  our 
tents  or  spread  upon  the  sand  when  we  wished 
to  rest.  Thus  arranged,  the  rude  saddle 
changed  into  a  broad,  pillion-like  seat,  with 
pommels  before  and  behind  to  hold  on  by, 
and  with  stirrups  fastened  to  the  front  one, 
you  may  ride  as  on  horseback.  You  can 
take  other  positions,  however,  seating  your- 
self lady-fashion,  or  with  both  legs  on  either 
side  of  the  camel,  or  else  turn  completely 
round  and  ride  backwards,  or  if  you  have 
dexterity  and  suppleness  enough,  you  may  sit 
cross-legged  like  a  Turk.  Thus  you  may  face 
to  or  from  the  wind  or  the  sun,  or  change 
posture  for  relief,  and  this,  together  with  be- 
ing raised  up  nine  feet,  and  above  the  effects 


THE    CAISIEl's    COMPLAINTS.  12' 


of  the  sand,  and  in  a  free  current  of  air,  gives 
the  camels  great  advantages  over  the  donkey 
or  the  horse  as  an  animal  for  crossing  the 
desert,  in  addition  to  its  essential  qualifica- 
tion in  the  power  of  enduring  thirst  for  suc- 
cessive days. 

"But  to  the  mounting.  Here,  however, 
the  growling  of  one  of  the  camels  near  the 
tent  in  which  I  am  writing,  reminds  me  that 
I  have  omitted  to  mention  that  all  the  while 
your  saddle  is  preparing,  or  the  load  being 
put  on,  the  surly  animal  keeps  up  a  constant 
grumbling  and  snarling,  turning  his  head 
back  by  means  of  his  long,  supple  neck,  and 
showing  his  teeth  as  if  he  would  bite  you, 
which  he  very  rarely  has  the  courage  to  do. 
He  seems  to  be  complaining  bitterly,  and 
showing  all  the  resentment  he  dares  at  your 
treatment  of  him ;  and  your  pity  might  be 
excited  for  him,  but  you  find  that  it  makes 
no  difiference  whether  your  load  is  light  or 
heavy,  and  after  it  is  put  on,  if  you  only  at- 


V2S  LIFE    OF   BISHOP   WAINWRIGHT. 


tempt  to  adjust  a  rope   or   throw  on   your 
cloak,  lie  begins  liis  complaints  again. 

"All  being  prepared,  you  take  your  seat 
while  the  animal  is  still  on  the  ground,  and 
are  told  to  hold  on  fast,  a  caution  by  no 
means  useless,  for  as  he  raises  himself  up  on 
his  haunches,  then  his  knees,  and  at  last  gets 
to  his  feet,  you  are  in  danger  of  being  thrown 
over  his  head,  or  over  his  tail,  or  off  on  one 
side.  When  he  is  fairly  up  you  feel  safe 
after  a  little  while,  though  at  a  somewhat 
giddy  elevation  to  one  who  had  been  accus- 
tomed only  to  a  horse  or  a  donkey.  Your 
ship  of  the  desert  (as  some  poet,  after  the 
Arabs,  has  fancied  to  call  it)  now  gets  under 
way,  and  considering  the  smooth  sea  it  has  to 
cross  it  is  certainly  a  very  uneasy  craft;  for 
moving  the  two  oars,  as  we  must  call  the  legs, 
on  tlie  same  side  alternately,  your  body  is 
jerked  forward  at  each  stroke,  as  if  you  were 
making  a  succession  of  quick, -ungainly  bows, 
and  you  have  no  change  of  motion  or  rest 


V 


THE  CUNXING  DRAGOMAN.       129 


till  you  come  to  anclior  for  the  niglit,  except 
when  you  lay  by  for  half  an  hour  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  day.  After  the  ride  of  the  first 
two  days  I  was  excessively  tired ;  never,  I 
think,  was  I  so  completely  exhausted  by  fa- 
tigue before.  ]^ow,  however,  having  discov- 
ered that  our  dragoman  was  riding  an  easier 
dromedary  than  mine,  which  he  had  cunning- 
ly taken  for  himself,  I  made  him  exchange 
with  me,  and  thus  got  along  with  comparative 
comfort."* 

We  would  gladly  go  on,  and  make  the 
whole  tour  with  our  amiable  fellow-traveller, 
but  our  chapters  are  too  nearly  exhausted  to 
permit  us  to  do  so.  I  hope  that  my  readers 
will  have  an  opportunity  of  examining  the 
large  work  from  which  this  extract  has  been 
made.  On  the  5th  of  April  (Thursday  before 
Easter),  Dr.  Wainwright  and  his  companions 

^  Pathways  of  Our  Lord,  p.  9.  Those  who  wish  to  form 
an  Ultimate  acquaintance  with  Arab  character  should  read 
an  episode  in  Badger's  Nestorians,  Vol.  I.,  p.  344. 


130  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WAIN  WEIGHT. 


entered  the  gates  of  Jerusalem,  where  they 
remained  ten  days,  spending  many  of  the  sa- 
cred hours  of  Passion  Week  in  visiting  the 
spots  so  memorable  in  Bible  history.  Good 
Friday  found  him  among  the  worshippers  in 
the  English  Church,  which  had  been  recently 
built  upon  Mount  Zion,  where  Bishop  Gobat 
preached  an  appropriate  sermon,  from  St. 
Luke  xxiii.  46.  On  the  14th  of  April  the 
travellers  were  ready  to  depart.  "  Going  out 
of  the  Damascus  Gate,  we  turned  our  faces, 
not  without  sorrow,  towards  the  north,  and 
wound  slowly  down  the  hill,  crossing  the 
upper  part  of  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  with 
Olivet,  so  sacred  in  our  affections,  upon  the 
right  hand  somewhat  behind  us.  A  rough, 
rocky  way,  over  a  succession  of  high  grounds 
and  plains,  led,  in  about  an  hour,  to  the  point 
whence  the  pilgrim  obtains  his  last  view,  and 
must  take  his  farewell  of  Jerusalem  !  It  was 
a  sad,  thoughtful  moment,  and  we  could  not 
easily  tear  ourselves  from  the  spot,  but  lin- 


SAD    AND   THOUGHTFUL    MOMENT.  131 


gerod  with  a  fondness  almost  akin  to  that  of 
an  old  friendship  ;  and  while  our  eyes  dranh 
in  the  last  view  we  should  have  on  earth  of 
the  material  walls  and  battlements  of  Jerusa- 
lem, the  sight  of  the  soul  seemed  to  be  en- 
larged, and  embraced  in  one  vision,  as  in 
some  mental  chart,  the  history  and  the  des- 
tiny of  that  Holy  City."* 

~  Among  the  popular  works  on  Jerusalem,  the  writer 
would  commend,  most  heartily,  Odenheimer's  "  Jerusalem, 
and  its  Sacred  Localities. ' ' 


AT   HOME   AGAIN  —  ANOTHER    CALL    TO    GO   ABROAD  —  A 
■     JUBILEE A    DELEGATION    SENT    TO     ENGLAND — WELL- 
DESERVED    DEGREE A   FAR   HIGHER   HONOR,    STILL 

DR.    WAINWRIGHT    ELECTED    BISHOP HIS     CONSECRA- 
TION,   AND    THE    SANGUINE    HOPES    INSPIRED A   MAN 

OF    SIXTY    DOING    MORE    WORK     THAN     THE     VIGOR    OF 

YOUTH     COULD     SAFELY     UNDERTAKE SYMPTOMS     OF 

SERIOUS    DERANGEMENT    IN    THE     SYSTEM FRIENDLY 

EXPOSTULATIONS THE    LABORS    OF    TWO-AND-TWENTY 

MONTHS INCIDENTS    OF    A   VISIT   TO    TROY. 

DE.  WAmWEIGHT  returned  home  in 
October,  1849,  with  invigorated  ener- 
gies, and  entered  again  upon  his  parochial 
and  other  diversified  labors.  Nothing  which 
calls  for  particular  notice  occurred  until  1852, 
when  a  very  pleasing  duty  required  him  to 
make  another  visit  to  England.  The  venera- 
ble Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel 


DELEGATION    SENT    TO    ENGLAND.  133 


iu  Foreign  Parts  had  determined  to  celebrate 
their  third  jubilee  (the  one  hundred  and  fifti- 
eth anniversary),  on  the  15th  of  June,  in  that 
year ;  and  as  a  token  of  the  kindly  feelings 
existing  between  the  churches  in  England 
and  America,  our  Bishops  were  invited  to 
send  two  or  more  of  their  number  to  take 
part  in  the  closing  services. 

Bishop  M'Coskry,  of  Michigan,  and  Bishop 
De  Lancey,  of  Western  New  York,  were  ac- 
cordingly appointed  to  be  the  bearers  of 
resolutions  expressive  of  the  grateful  love  and 
cordial  sympathy  of  the  daughter  towards 
the  mother  Church. 

It  was  very  doubtful,  however,  whether 
the  prelates  would  be  able  to  go,  and  while 
this  question  remained  unsettled,  it  was  con- 
cluded best  that  Dr.  "Wainwright,  as  secre- 
tary of  the  House  of  Bishops,  should  depart 
at  once,  with  the  resolutions  which  had  been 
adopted.  He  accordingly  went,  but  it  so 
happened  that  the  two  Bishops  who  had*been 

12 


134  LIFE    OF   BISHOP   WAINWKIGHT. 


appointed  delegates  were  able  to  attend,  and 
sailed  soon  after. 

Notwithstanding  tlieir  nnexpected  arrival, 
great  res2:>ect  was  paid  to  Dr.  Wainwright, 
and  on  every  suitable  occasion  the  halls  of 
Old  England  resounded  with  his  fervent 
Christian  eloquence.  Upon  him,  as  well  as 
upon  the  two  Bishops,  the  University  of  Ox- 
ford conferred  the  degree  of  D.  C.  L. 

But  a  far  higher  honor,  still,  was  in  store 
for  Dr.  Wainwright,  at  home.  On  the  first 
of  October,  1852,  not  long  after  his  return 
from  this  honorable  mission  to  the  English 
Church,  he  was  elected  Provisional  Bishop 
of  the  Diocese  of  N'ew  York.  "  The  day  of 
his  consecration  was  one  not  soon  to  be  for- 
gotten by  any  who  had  the  good  fortune  to 
be  present.  Regarded  as  the  happy  termi- 
nation of  diocesan  contests,  which  had  lasted 
with  great  acrimony  for  years,  this  occasion 
was  honored  by  the  presence  of  ten  Bishops  ; 
and,  for  the  first  time  since  the  establishment 


DR.    WAINWRTGHt's    CONSECRATION.        13.J 


of  the  American  Episcopate,  an  English 
Bishop  (of  Montreal)  united  in  consecrating  an 
American  prelate.  This  happy  commence- 
ment of  reunion  and  peace,  celebrated  as  it 
was  with  uncommon  splendor,  and  the  united 
devotion  of  thousands,  was  fondly  looked  upon 
as  the  inauguration  of  a  long  Episcopate.""^ 

Dr.  Wainwright's  consecration  took  place 
in  Trinity  Church,  New  York,  on  the  tenth 
of  I^ovember,  the  venerable  Dr.  Brownell,  of 
Connecticut,  Presiding  Bishop  of  the  Church 
in  the  United  States,  acting  as  consecrator, 
assisted  by  the  other  Bishops  present. 

The  enormous  diocese  of  x^ew  York  (which 
we  hope  to  see  divided  into  three  or  four 
smaller  ones)  presented  a  field  far  too  vast 
for  even  the  most  vigorous  man  in  the  flower 
of  his  age;  but  Bishop  Wainwright,  in  his 
auxiety  to  leave  no  duty  neglected,  seems  to 
have  forgotten  that  he  was  now  sixty.     lu 

»  Church  Journal,  No.  87. 


136  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WAINWKIGHT. 


spite  of  the  repeated  and  anxious  remon- 
strances of  friends,  and  of  several  premoni- 
toiy  warnings,  that  he  was  overtaxing  his 
strength,  he  pursued  his  unceasing  round  of 
labors,  as  if  he  realized  that  the  time,  for 
him,  was  short. 

"  The  first  time  I  met  Bishop  Wainwright 
after  his  consecration,"  writes  a  Western 
prelate,  "  was  at  a  meeting  of  the  House  of 
Bishops  at  Camden,  about  a  year  after  the 
labors  and  exposures  of  the  duties  of  his  high 
and  arduous  ofiice  had  begun  to  tell  most 
disastrously  upon  his  hitherto  uncommonly 
robust  frame.  My  eye,  unfortunately,  being 
somewhat  more  practised  than  that  of  many 
of  my  brethren,  in  detecting  the  symptoms 
of  serious  bilious  derangement,  at  once  ob- 
served the  influence  over  his  fine  constitution 
of  that  kind  of  exposure,  in  rural  districts,  on 
the  lake  shore,  and  upon  water  courses,  to 
which,  from  his  city  life,  he  had  never  yet 
been  exposed  ;  and  I  lost  no  time  in  calling 


FEEENDLY   EXPOSTULATIONS.  137 


Upon  him,  in  his  sick  room,  to  point  out 
remedies,  palliatives,  and  above  all,  prevent- 
ives for  the  time  to  come,  for  all  which  he 
seemed  to  be  truly  grateful.  But  early  the 
next  season,  on  looking  over  the  published 
schedule  of  his  proposed  work  for  two  or 
three  months,  I  was  amazed  at  the  rash  zeal 
which  had  led  him  to  lay  out  an  amount  of 
labor  which,  it  appeared  to  me,  far  exceeded 
the  power  of  any  human  frame  to  endure 
unharmed ;  and,  about  that  time,  having  oc- 
casion to  write  to  him,  I  playfully  remarked, 
that  if  he  could  not  possibly  find  sufficient 
work  in  his  own  vast  diocese  to  kill  him  off 
soon  enough,  if  he  would  only  come  out  to 
the  West,  I  had  no  doubt  that  we  could  make 
up  the  deficiency  in  a  very  short  time.  And 
so,  that  great  heart  and  stout  will  impelled 
him  forward  in  his  indiscreet  but  noble  ca- 
reer, until  the  wheels  of  life  stopped,  and 
the  measure  of  his  days,  and  of  his  vast  use- 
fulness, ended  together." 

12* 


138  LIFE    OF   BISHOP    WAINWKIGHT. 


His  Episcopate  lasted  but  one  year  and  ten 
months,  and  yet  wliat  an  amount  of  work 
was  accomplished ! 

He  consecrated  fifteen  churches ;  ordained 
thirty-seven  Deacons  and  twelve  Priests  ; 
and  confirmed  four  thousand  one  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  persons.  But  more  than 
this,  he  had  settled  and  harmonized  a  diocese 
which  had  been  long  distracted,  and  set  the 
machinery  in  operation  which  has  since  been 
moving  on  so  well. 

Many  touching  incidents  are  treasured  up 
by  his  friends,  which  show  the  faithfulness 
and  love* which  marked  Bishop  Wainwright's 
course.  Dr.  Yan  Kleeck,  who  was  then  rec- 
tor of  a  church  in  Troy,  thus  describes  a  visi- 
tation to  that  place  :  ''  I  remember,  at  one  of 
the  Bishop's  visits  to  Troy,  he  came  after  an 
accident  at  Copake,  which  caused  a  painful 
lameness.  He  not  only  laid  the  corner-stone 
of  St.  John's  Church,  on  Saturday,  when  se- 
verely sufiering,  but  insisted   on   preaching 


INCIDENTS    OF    A    VISIT    TO    TliOY.  139 


and  confirming,  the  next  morning  in  St. 
Paul's.  He  was  so  lame  that  he  preached 
sitting  in  his  chair ;  and  never  with  more 
earnestness  or  eftect.  In  the  Confirmation, 
the  candidates  came  to  him,  one  by  one,  as 
he  stood  at  the  centre  of  the  chancel  rail ; 
and  the  scene  was  very  touching,  as,  on 
bended  knees,  they  severally  received  the 
laying  on  of  hands,  with  his  earnest  blessing. 
After  the  service,  though  evidently  suflering 
much,  he  refused  to  have  a  physician  called, 
and  intended  to  persevere  with  the  other 
duties  of  the  day.  I  sent,  however,  for  my 
family  physician  ;  who  no  sooner '  saw  liim 
than  he  discovered  the  signs  of  erysipelatous 
inflammation,  and  positively  enjoined  rest 
and  remedies." 


C^apin  Sebententtlj. 

LAST     PUBLIC     MINISTEATIONS HAVERSTEAW KIND     IN- 

TEEEST    IN    LITTLE    CHILDEEN SUNDAY   MOEXING,  AND 

THE    SEVERAL    DUTIES    OF    THAT    DAT CHILLINESS — A 

GOOD  night's  EEST  AND    AN  EARLY   START THE   DAN- 
GEE    BY    NO    MEANS     PAST LAST     ACT     OF    BUSINESS 

RISING   FROM   A    SICK   BED,    TO    ATTEND    A   MEETING  OF 

THE  SUNDAY    SCHOOL  UNION BECOMES  SUDDENLY  AND 

ALAEMINGLY  ILL THE    STUPOE  OF  DISEASE "  MY  BE- 
LOVED,   YOU     AEE     GOING    TO    BE    WITH     JESUS" THE 

FULL  ASSURANCE   OF   HOPE — FALLING  ASLEEP  IN  JESUS. 

iISHOP  WAIIvrWEIGHT'S  last  public 
ministrations  were  at  Haverstraw,  where 
lie  arrived  on  Saturday  evening,  August  the 
26th.  The  missionary  of  the  station  (the  Rev. 
J.  B.  Gibson)  met  him  at  the  boat,  and  ac- 
companied him  to  the  parsonage ;  where,  af- 
ter a  short  evening,  spent  in  talking  over 
church  affairs,  he  retired  early  to  rest,  evi- 


SUNDAY   MORNING.  141 


dentlj  miicli  fatigued.  "  One  incideut,"  re- 
marks the  missionary,  "  I  cannot  forbear  men- 
tioning, as  it  illustrates  his  kind  interest  in 
little  children.  Remembering  that  I  had  two 
little  boys,  though  he  had  seen  them  but 
once,  and  that  a  year  before,  he  had  thought 
of  them  on  his  way  to  the  boat.  "While  we 
were  sitting  at  the  tea-table,  he  left  it  for 
a  moment,  to  go  to  his  carpet-bag,  and 
brought  them  a  paper  of  candy.  A  trifling 
circumstance ;  but  the  proof  of  no  ordinary 
kindness  of  heart,  in  one  so  occupied  with 
the  highest  responsibilities.  On  Sunday 
morning  the  Bishop  rose  at  six,  and  came 
from  his  room  looking  perfectly  well ;  and, 
he  said,  feeling  so.  After  breakfast  he  rode 
with  me,  about  a  mile  and  a  half,  to  the 
humble  room  in  which  our  services  were 
held.  He  there  addressed  the  children  of 
the  Sunday  School  in  a  most  earnest  and  af- 
fectionate manner.  He  then  returned  to  my 
house,  and  remained  there  until  the  hour  of 


142  LIFE   OF    BISHOP    WAINWEIGHT. 


morning  service.  We  met  in  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Churcli.  He  read  tlie  Ante-Com- 
munion Service,  and  preached  from  Romans 
X.  10 :  '  With  the  heart,  man  believeth  unto 
righteousness.'  The  power  of  the  sermon, 
and  the  eloquence  with  which  it  was  deliv- 
ered, were  manifested  by  the  manner  in 
which  it  was  listened  to,  and  the  effect  which 
it  produced. 

"The  place  of  worship  was  large,  and  filled 
with  a  congregation  representing  almost  all 
shades  of  religious  opinion.  The  breathless 
attention  and  deep  interest  shown,  some- 
times in  tears,  were  highly  gratifying.  After 
the  sermon,  the  Bishop  explained  the  holy 
rite  of  Confirmation.  He  especially  endeav- 
ored to  do  away  the  erroneous  impressions 
of  those  without  the  Church,  as  to  the  word 
'  regeneration.'  He  confirmed  thirteen  per- 
sons, and  addressed  them  most  solemnly  and 
aflectionately. 

"  There  had  been  a  great  change  in  the 


CHILLIXESS.  Ii3 

Tveather  during  the  service ;    the  wind  hav- 
ing become  damp  and  cold,  and  the  sky  over- 
clouded.    As  we  were  riding  home,  the  Bish- 
op  regretted  that  he  had  onlj  a  thin  coat. 
lie    felt   rather   chilled.     After    dinner,    of 
which  he  partook  with  an  excellent  appetite, 
he  retired  to  his  room  and  rested  till  half- 
past  four.     The  afternoon  service  was  in  the 
Central  Presbyterian  Church.    This,  also,  was 
crowded,  with  an    attentive   and   interested 
congregation.     He  preached  a  most  excellent 
sermon,    with   great   animation   and   fervor, 
from  1st  St.  John  ii.  3  :  '  Hereby  we  do  know 
that  we  know  Him,  if  we  keep  His  command- 
ments.'    A  deep   impression   was   evidently 
made  on  the  minds  of  the  listening  congre- 
gation.    After  the  sermon,  he  gave  out  tlie 
40th  Hymn,  and  then  pronounced  the  greater 
Benediction.     Our  little  flock  look  back  to 
their  great  privilege  in  thus  receiving,  as  it 
were,    his    dying    blessing,    witli    tliankful, 
though  with  saddened   hearts.     The   Bishop 


IM  LIFE    OF    BTSnOP    WATNWEIGHT. 


then  thanked  the  pastor  and  trustees  of  the 
congregation  for  the  nse  of  the  church  ;  allu- 
ded to  a  spirit  of  courtesy  thus  manifested  ; 
and  said,  in  words  which  will  be  ever  in  our 
ears,  that  it  was  impossible  they  could  all 
meet  again  on  earth ;  but  he  hoped  that  all 
might,  before  the  throne  of  God,  to  receive 
the  sentence,  '  Well  done,  good  and  faith- 
ful servant,  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy 
Lord.' 

"  On  our  way  home  the  Bishop  again  spoke 
of  the  chilliness  of  the  atmosphere,  although 
he  was  rather  more  warmly  clad  than  in  the 
morning.  He  retired  early,  not  seeming  much 
fatigued.  Indeed,  he  said  that  his  labors 
that  day  had  been  comparatively  light.  He 
rose  on  Monday  at  -^ve.  Breakfast  was  pre- 
pared, and  there  was  ample  time ;  but  he 
declined  it,  saying  that  he  was  used  to  eat- 
ing at  any  hour,  and  it  would  not  hurt  him  to 
wait  for  his  breakfast  till  he  reached  Kew 
York.     He  added,  that  he  had  recently  gone 


RISING    FKOM   A   SICK   BED.  145 


from  Catskill  to  ^New  York  without  any 
nourishment.  I  drov^e  him  to  the  boat; 
and  as  he  stood  on  the  bow  he  seemed,  in 
spite  of  the  previous  day's  work,  like  one  in 
full  and  vigorous  health,  and  fresh  as  though 
he  had  passed  a  day  of  rest  instead  of  one  of 
toil." 

Thus  far  Mr.  Gibson's  interesting  narrative. 

Although  Bishop  Wainwright  had  appear- 
ed fresh  and  vigorous  on  his  departure  from 
Havers  traw,  the  chilliness  which  he  had  felt 
on  Sunday  had  been  only  the  precursor  of 
fatal  disease.  He  reached  home  on  Monday, 
but  the  next  day  his  fever  began.  On  Wed- 
nesday evening,  in  spite  of  his  indisposition, 
he  insisted  on  being  carried  down  to  the  De- 
pository of  the  Sunday  School  Union,  where 
an  important  meeting  was  to  be  held,  with 
reference  to  its  affairs.  Here  he  presided 
until  the  close  of  a  long  debate,  though 
scarcely  able  to  sit  up  at  all.  This  was  his 
last  act  of  Episcopal  business.     And  how  this 

13 


146  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WAINWKIGHT. 


should   endear  liim  to   every  friend   of  the 
Sunday  School  Union ! 

His  family,  as  yet,  felt  no  serious  alarm ; 
but  he  soon  after  became  worse,  and  Doctors 
Hosack  and  Wilkes  were  sent  for,  who  did 
all  that  skill  and  science  could  do  to  preserve 
a  life  so  valuable.  But  their  efforts  proved 
in  vain.  A  stupor  (so  generally  the  attend- 
ant of  typhoid  fever)  settled  upon  him,  more 
and  more  deeply,  from  day  to  day.  He 
manifested  no  wish  for  nourishment,  and  al- 
most wholly  refused  it.  And  so  he  lingered 
on  until  September  the  twenty-first.  For 
the  last  five  hours  he  lay  in  silence,  surround- 
ed by  his  wife  and  children  and  their  faith- 
ful Mend  and  physician.  Dr.  Hosack,  who 
watched  with  anxious  eyes  the  slow  ebbing 
away  of  life.  "  All  was  composed,  except 
when,  now  and  then,  a  gust  of  sorrow  would 
break  forth :  '  My  beloved,  you  are  going  to 
be  with  Jesus  ;  to  be  forever  happy.  Do  you 
rest  in  Him  V    The  closing  eyes  half  opened. 


FALLING  ASLEEP  IN  JESUS 


14:7 


The  venerable  head  moved  its  assent.  The 
mother  and  the  children  impressed  their  fare- 
well kiss  upon  that  noble  brow.  And  all  was 
still.     The  spirit  was  with  God." 

This  was  on  Thursday,  the  feast  of  St. 
Matthew  the  Apostle,  1854.  The  departed 
saint  had  reached  his  sixty-third  year.  Who 
can  gaze,  unmoved,  on  such  a  scene  ?  The 
writer's  eyes  have  been  blinded  by  his  tears, 
while  recording  the  events  of  this  chapter. 


THE   FUNERAL OLD   TRINITY   DRAPED     IN    BLACK MTTL- 

TITUDE    OF    MOURNERS — ORDER    OF    THE    SERVICE,    AND 

THOSE  WHO   OFFICIATED DR.    HIGBEE's  ADDRESS — THE 

MUSIC "l  KNOW   THAT  MY  REDEEMER   LIVETIl" THE 

BODY  BORNE   TO   ITS   RESTING-PLACE THE  SACRED  PRI- 
VACY OF  GRIEF  LEFT  UNDISTURBED TINTED  SUNBEAMS 

FALLING  UPON  THE  DARKENED  ALTAR GATE  OF  PARA- 
DISE. 

BISHOP  WAmWRIGHT'S  funeral  took 
place  in  Trinity  Cliurcli,  'New  York, 
on  Saturday,  September  23d,  at  one  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon.  Not  two  years  liad  passed 
since  the  magnificent  temple  had  been 
crowded  by  those  who  had  come,  with  thank- 
fulness and  joy,  to  witness  his  consecration. 
The  same  dense  throng  has  assembled  there 
again,  but  how  sad  the  occasion  of  this 
meeting !     The  solemn  silence  of  death  pre- 


ORDEK    OF    THE    SEKYICE.  149 


vails  throughout  the  crowded  church,  except 
when  broken  by  the  pathetic  accents  of  those 
who  unite  in  the  beautiful  service,  or  by  the 
sobs  of  multitudes  that  mourn. 

The  body  of  the  deceased  Bishop  had  been 
brought  down  early  in  the  morning,  and  lay 
in  state  until  the  time  approached  for  the 
funeral.  The  pulpit  and  altar,  and'  other 
parts  of  the  church,  were  heavily  draped  with 
black  cloth.  Eight  clergymen  officiated  as 
pall-bearers. 

Dr.  Berrian,  the  venerable  rector  of  Trini- 
ty Church,  repeated  the  opening  sentences 
of  the  Burial  Service;  the  anthem,  "Lord, 
let  me  know  my  end,"  etc.,  being  chanted  by 
the  choir.  "  All  that  music  could  lend  of 
tenderness  and  solemnity  to  such  a  scene, 
was  lovingly  contributed  by  Dr.  Hodges  and 
those  whom  he  directed ;  and  worthily  to  one 
who  has  done  more  than  any  other  man  to 
make  church  music  what  it  should  be."  The 
lesson  was  read  by  Bishop  Whitehouse,  of  II- 

13* 


150  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WAINWKIGHT. 


linois,  who,  wlien  a  youth,  had  been  a  pa- 
rishioner of  Dr.  Wainwright's,  then  rector  of 
Grace  Church.  The  remainder  of  the  service 
was  by  Bishop  Doane,  of  'New  Jersey. 

When  the  last  three  verses  of  the  13th  Se- 
lection of  Psalms  had  been  sung,  Dr.  Higbee 
ascended  the  pulpit  to  pronounce  the  funeral 
discourse.  At  times  his  overpowering  emo- 
tions of  sorrow  obliged  him  to  stop.  "As 
one  suddenly  hurled  from  some  high  cliff  into 
the  sea,"  he  beautifully  remarked,  "I  only 
hear  the  confused,  mournful  sounds  of  death 
amid  the  waves,  except  as  these  sounds  ever 
and  anon  are  overborne  by  God's  awful  voice 
saying  to  all  human  hearts  and  to  all  human 
tongues,  '  Peace  !  be  still.'  " 

He  then  went  on  to  give  an  outline  of  the 
character  of  the  departed,  in  which  the  lovely 
and  beautiful  traits  of  his  character  were 
drawn  with  masterly  skill,  and  with  the  thor- 
ough appreciation  of  an  intimate  and  warmly 
attached  friend. 


DR.  higbee's  address.  151 


Referring  to  his  untiring  efforts  to  fulfil  to 
the  uttermost  every  duty  which  devolved 
upon  him,  the  eloquent  preacher  remarked : 
"  I  seek  not  to  portray  him  to  you  in  his  la- 
bors in  the  diocese,  bringing  to  those  labors 
his  whole  life  and  soul,  yet  in  meekness  and 
humility.  The  record  of  his  toil  during  the 
two  years  of  his  Episcopacy  is  known  to  you 
all;  and  the  fruits  of  his  labor  will  remain 
in  the  hearts  of  thousands  of  the  young,  the 
old,  the  rich,  the  poor,  clergymen,  and  lay- 
men of  this  city  and  this  diocese.  And 
there,"  pointing  to  the  bier,  "  is  the  result  to 
him.  He  did  labor  unto  the  death.  But  no, 
thank  God,  that  is  not  the  result  to  him  ;  for 
^  they  who  are  wise  shall  shine  as  the  bright- 
ness of  the  firmament ;  and  they  who  turn 
many  to  righteousness,  as  the  stars  forever 
and  ever.'  One  of  the  morning  papers  of 
this  city,  yesterday,  in  announcing  his  death, 
used  the  following  touching  words :  '  Since 
the  period  of  his  election  he  has  known  but 


152  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WAINWKIGnT. 


little  rest ;  we  have  often  seen  him  wrapt  in 
an  ample  cloak,  waiting  in  severe  storms  the 
arrival  of  conveyances  to  take  him  to  and 
from  the  city.  The  clergy  respected  him  ; 
the  laity  supported  him ;  his  friends  loved 
and  honored  him.' 

"  Waiting — waiting  in  severe  storms !  Ay  ! 
in  every  part  of  the  diocese  he  has  been  at 
times  seen — waiting  in  the  summer's  heat  and 
in  the  winter's  cold.  E'o,  not  waiting  ;  but 
everywhere,  on  the  great  highways  and  aside 
from  the  thoroughfares  of  travel,  in  lonely 
vales  and  among  bleak  hills,  braving  the  in- 
clement seasons,  and  wet  with  the  autumnal 
dews  of  the  night,  he  has  been  constantly 
seen  pursuing  his  way  by  any  conveyance 
which  might  be  presented  to  him,  from  one 
distant  point  to  another,  to  visit  the  populous 
town  or  the  humble  country  church,  or  the 
obscure  school-house,  hastening  to  bestow 
his  blessing,  whether  on  the  '  great  congrega- 
tion' or  on  the  poor  there  gathered  together 


DK.  higbee's  address.  153 


in  God's  name.  iSTo  consideration  of  person- 
al convenience  or  comfort,  no  mere  weakness 
and  languor  and  j)ain,  no  private  interests  or 
social  invitation,  no  anxious  remonstrances 
from  his  fRends — and  they  were  many — 
were  allowed  to  interfere  with  his  duties, 
from  the  least  to  the  greatest.  My  last  words 
to  him  were  a  remonstrance,  in  case  of  a  re- 
covery, against  this  so  excessive  labor.  His 
reply  told  me  that  he  was  unconscious  of  any 
excess ;  and  then  his  mind  ran  off  on  past 
and  prospective  duties. 

"Alas  !  our  master  is  taken  from  our  head 
to-day.  The  field  misses  the  strong  laborer. 
The  shield  of  the  warrior  is  23ierced  in  the 
battle.  Alas  !  my  brethren,  alas !  but  not 
for  him.  His  toil,  his  pain,  his  conflicts  are 
over.  The  rough  toil,  the  weary  way,  the 
heat  and  cold,  are  past.  The  tempest  no 
more  breaks  over  his  head,  and  the  rude 
wind  is  still.  The  good  soldier  has  fallen 
'  with  his  face  to  the  foe'  and  with  his  armor 


154  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WAINWEIGHT. 


on.  The  faithful  laborer  has  gone  upward, 
not  deserting  the  harvest,  but  bearing  liis 
sheaves  with  him." 

At  the  close  of  this  beautiful  address  (the 
whole  of  which  I  trust  that  my  readers  may 
be  privileged  to  see  for  themselves)  the  con- 
soling words,  "I  know  that  my  Redeemer 
liveth,"  were  most  feelingly  sung,  and  the 
service  was  closed  with  the  prayers  and  the 
benediction. 

The  body  was  then  borne  to  the  door,  as 
the  solemn  strains  of  the  Dead  March  in  Saul 
floated  through  the  air,  and  was  accompanied 
to  Trinity  Cemetery  only  by  the  family  of  the 
deceased,  and  the  Rev.  Drs.  Muhlenberg  and 
Higbee.  Thousands  would  gladly  have  tes- 
tified their  love  for  Bishop  "Wainwright  by 
going  to  the  grave,  but  the  mourning  kindred 
preferred  to  be  alone  at  such  a  trying  moment. 

The  Churoh  Journal^  in  dwelling  on  this 
melancholy  theme,  thus  appropriately  con- 
cludes :  "  We  do  not  cease  to  hope  and  pray 


GATE   OF   PARADISE.  155 


that  even  this  sorrow  will,  in  God's  hand, 
prove  a  blessing  to' that  diocese  which  has 
been  now  so  long  and  so  grievously  chastened. 
The  day  of  his  burial  was  a  day  of  peaceful 
calm,  of  brilliant  and  cheerful  sunshine.  In 
vain  was  the  altar  of  old  Trinity  hung  all 
over  with  the  sable  weeds  of  mourning.  The 
tinted  sunbeams  fell  upon  the  darkened  altar, 
and  wherever  they  fell,  they  painted  it  with 
fullest  brightness  in  the  colors  of  heaven. 
Even  so  the  love  of  God,  if  the  windows  of 
the  Churches  faUh  be  unclouded  by  doubt  or 
despair,  will  descend  upon  the  sorrowing, 
and  kindle  a  new  glory  even  upon  the  dark- 
ness of  the  shadow  of  Death.  The  Tomb  is 
but  the  Gate  of  Paradise." 


OIITLrNE  OF  CHARACTER — LOVE  OF  HOME THE  GOOD  SON, 

LOVING  BROTHER,  TENDER  HUSBAND,  AND  AFFECTION- 
ATE FATHER AN  ACCOMPLISHED  GENTLEMAN — REFIN- 
ED AND  CULTIVATED  TASTES — GENIAL,  SOCIAL  MAN — 
GENEROSITY  AND  MAGNANIMITY — MEEK  AND  RETIRING 
CHRISTIAN — PULPIT  ORATOR — THE  TEXT  SUGGESTED  BY 
DANIEL   WgBSTER — ABLE    TO    TURN   HIS   HAND    TO    ANY 

WORK HIS     SPECIAL    MISSION — THE   MAN   WHO    COULD 

NOT,    POSSIBLY,    BE    SPARED. 

ALTHOUGH  so  mucli  has  been  already 
said  concerning  the  subject  of  this 
memoir,  our  little  book  would  be  incomplete 
without  a  more  formal  outline  of  his  charac- 
ter. 

1.  And  first,  it  must  have  been  observed 
by  those  who  have  followed  his  career  from 
his  boyhood  until  the  close,  that  Bishop 
Wainwright  was  a  man  who  appreciated,  to 


AN    ACCOMPLISHFD    GENTLEMAIT.  157 


the  fullest  extent,  the  delights  of  home.  ]^o 
son  was  ever  more  kind,  or  respectful,  or  af- 
fectionate. A  more  loving  brother  never 
lived.  And,  as  the  child  is  father  to  the 
man,  we  are  prepared  to  find  him  a  tender, 
confiding,  and  indulgent  husband,  and  a  gen- 
tle and  devoted  father.  He  endeavored  to 
control  his  children  rather  by  love  than  by 
authority,  and  there  was  no  sacrifice  which 
he  was  not  ready  to  make,  in  order  to  pro- 
mote their  comfort  and  advantage. 

2.  Bishop  Wainwright  was  a  most  accom- 
plished gentleman.  His  whole  manner  was 
urbanity  itself,  and  the  law  of  kindness  was 
ever  on  his  lips.  "  ^o  grace  or  courtesy  was 
ever  wanting  to  his  daily  life.  In  his  man- 
ners, in  his  habits,  in  his  bearing,  in  the  ex- 
pression of  his  countenance,  in  the  tones  of 
his  voice,  in  the  propriety  of  his  dress,  in 
his  whole  carriage  and  appearance,  there  was 
that  which  would  have  commended  him  at 
court  and  made  him  welcome  in  a  cottage." 

14 


158  LIFE    OF   BISHOP    WAINWIIIGIIT. 


I  inquired  of  one  wlio  had  recently  returned 
from  England,  and  who  had  enjoyed  the  most 
favorable  opportunities  for  learning  the  opin- 
ions of  our  trans- Atlantic  brethren  about  our- 
selves, "Who  of  all  the  American  Bishops 
and  clergy  that  have  visited  England  during 
the  last  few  years,  has  left  the  most  decided 
impressions  behind  him,  as  a  high-toned,  pol- 
ished Christian  gentleman  ?"  The  reply  was 
returned  at  once,  "  Bishop  "Wainwright." 

3.  He  possessed  a  refined  and  cultivated 
taste.  Had  he  been  a  mere  worldly  man, 
his  name  would  have  been  numbered  among 
the  most  appreciating  admirers  and  patrons 
of  the  Fine  Arts.  Even  with  all  his  multi- 
plied employments,  he  found  time  for  the 
gratification  of  this  elevating  taste. 

"  I  well  remember,"  says  the  Hon.  Willard 
Phillips,  of  Boston,  "  that,  on  his  introducing 
me  to  Gilbert  Stuart,  the  celebrated  portrait 
painter,  at  the  rooms  of  the  latter,  about 
1809,  he  was  intimately  familiar  with  that 


GENIAL,    SOCIAL    MAN.  159 

artist.  Some  twenty  years  after,  during  my 
visit  to  him,  in  Xew  York,  I  found  him  re- 
taining the  same  tastes  and  cultivating  simi- 
lar associations,  when  he  took  me  to  Col. 
Trumbull's  rooms,  to  show  me  the  original 
portrait  of  Washington,  by  that  artist ;  with 
whom  he  was  evidently  on  a  familiar  footing. 
He  had  also  an  ardent,  appreciating  fond- 
ness for  music,  of  which  he  had  considerable 
scientific  knowledge ;  and  in  which  he  was 
not  without  some  artistic  skill,  on  the  piano 
and  the  Welsh  harp ;  on  each  of  which  he 
was  in  the  habit  of  practising." 

4.  Bishop  Wainwright  was  a  genial,  social 
man.  I  use  these  words  in  their  best  and 
highest  sense.  I  mention  this,  because  I 
have  known  those  who,  having  never  seen 
him,  fancied  him  to  belong  to  the  class  of 
worldly  clergymen  (fortunately  a  small  one), 
who  are  fond  of  dining  at  the  tables  of  the 
rich,  and  who  are  no  great  credit  to  their 
sacred  calling.     No  opinion  could  be  more 


160  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WAINWHIGHT. 


unfounded.  One  who  knew  liim  well  has 
happily  described  his  real  character  in  this 
particular.  ''  He  was  '  in  simplicity  a  child.' 
A  brief  run  into  the  country,  a  visit  from  an 
old  friend,  a  social  supper  on  some  cold  meat 
and  a  potato,  would  overflow  him  with  de- 
light." No  one  could  say  that  any  duty  was 
ever  neglected  by  him,  for  the  sake  of  his 
own  ease  or  self-indulgence. 

5.  Bishop  "Wainwright  was  distinguished, 
from  his  earliest  manhood,  for  generosity  of 
disposition  and  for  great  magnanimity  of 
soul.  His  very  look  and  tone  of  voice  were 
enough  to  convince  one  of  his  frankness  and 
his  freedom  from  all  deceit.  He  was  inca- 
pable of  doing  any  thing  which  was  con- 
temptible or  base.  Cordial,  and  free,  and 
generous  to  a  fault,  no  wonder  that  all  men 
loved  him. 

6.  The  lamented  prelate  was  also  a  meek 
and  retiring  Christian.  His  conversation, 
while  it  was  always  elegant  and  instructive, 


PULPIT    ORATOR.  161 


never  bordered  on  religious  cant.  His 
Christianity  appeared  in  everything  he  did. 
He  felt  himself  the  humblest  instrument  in 
God's  hands,  and  rejoiced  and  gave  thanks 
to  Him,  when  he  was  permitted  to  accom- 
plish any  good. 

7.  Bishop  Wainwright  was  remarkable  for 
the  correctness,  and  force,  and  beauty  which 
always  appeared  in  his  pulpit  discourses,  and 
which  rendered  him  so  popular  as  a  preacher. 
Mr.  Prescott,  our  great  historian,  observes : 
"  !Never  have  I  known  a  minister  who  ac- 
quired a  wider  influence  over  his  people,  or 
who  took'  a  stronger  hold  of  their  affections." 
Unlike  those  preachers  who  are  fond  of 
handling  abstruse  and  difficult  subjects,  he  al- 
ways preferred  those  which  were  simple  and 
practical.  During  his  residence  in  Boston 
the  late  Daniel  Webster  several  times  sug- 
gested topics  to  him  which  he  wished  to  hear 
treated  from  the  pulpit.  On  one  occasion 
he  proposed  to  Dr.  Wainwright  to  prepare  a 

11* 


162  LIFE    OF    BISHt)P    WAINWRIGUT. 


sermon  on  the  text,  "  There  is  one  Lawgiver ^'^ 
saying  tliat  it  presented  a  grand  subject. 
The  work  was  readily  undertaken,  but  never 
finished.  "The  more  I  meditated,",  says  Dr. 
Wainwright,  "the  larger  grew  the  subject, 
and  I  put  myself  seriously  to  the  task  for  the 
remainder  of  the  week.  Saturday  came,  and 
the  mighty  idea  had  stretched  beyond  my 
narrow  grasp  ;  and  I  gave  the  subject  up  for 
the  time,  saying  to  myself.  Hooker  has  bent 
that  bow,  and  Webster  could,  were  he  to  try, 
but  I  cannot."  The  real  difficulty,  in  his 
mind,  was  to  adapt  so  lofty  a  theme  to  the 
instruction  of  his  people.  What  a  lesson, 
here,  for  such  as  delight  in  vain  and  curious 
speculations ! 

8.  Bishop  Wainwright  could  turn  his  hand 
to  any  work.  "  He  was  a  man,"  remarks  Dr. 
Berrian,  "  of  unwearied  industry,  borrowing 
from  the  night  whatever  was  lost  in  the  day ; 
ready  at  all  times  for  any  emergency,  sys- 
tematic in  his  studies,  and  persevering  in  his 


HIS    SPECIAL   MISSION.  163 


aims."  He  was  willing  to  help  along  with 
anygood  work.  If  a  country  parish  wanted 
an  organ,  he  was  the  person  to  look  it  up. 
If  a  standard  edition  of  the  Prayer  Book 
was  to  be  published,  his  careful,  critical  eye . 
was  depended  upon  to  undergo  the  painful 
drudgery  of  reading  the  proof-sheets.  Chil- 
dren of  English  parents  had  wandered  off  to 
this  Western  world,  and  had  long  been  un- 
heard of,  and  anxious  friends  apply  to  him 
to  make  inquiries  for  them.  Wlien  the  Crys- 
tal Palace  was  to  be  opened,  he  is  expected 
to  inaugurate  the* American  Exhibition  of 
the  Arts  and  Sciences,  with  his  prayers  and 
benediction.*  Alas !  how  a  man  of  such 
miiversalness  of  character  must  be  missed  ! 

9.  And  lastly,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that 
Bishop  Wainwright  was  raised  up  by  a  gra- 

^  So  prominent  a  place  did  he  occupy  in  the  public 
mind,  in  connection  with  this  grand  pageant,  that  in  the 
New  York  "  Illustrated  News"  for  July  30th,  1853,  he 
is  portrayed,  in  his  Episcopal  robes,  officiating  on  this  oc- 
casion. 


IGi  LIFE    OF  .EISHOP   WAIN  WEIGHT. 


cious  Providence  to  accomplish  a  special 
work  for  the  distracted  diocese  in  which  he 
lived.  Dr.  M'Yickar,  in  his  opening  sermon 
before  the  Convention  of  'New  York,  on  the 
^Wednesday  after  the  Bishop's  death,  speaks 
of  this  work  as  his  raission,  and  shows 
that  bj  nature,  by  education,  and  by  grace, 
he  was  most  admirably  qualified  to  ac- 
complish it.  "This  was  a  task  as  conge- 
nial to  his  nature  as  it  was  prominent  in  his 
choice  and  open  in  his  policy,  and  towards 
the  attainment  of  which  he  was  made,  under 
God's  blessing,  eminently  successful."  There 
are  many  good  men  who  pass  through  life 
and  do  their  duty,  but  who,  after  all,  are  so 
much  like  hundreds  and  thousands  more, 
equally  sincere  and  equally  faithful,  that  we 
must  acknowledge  that  some  one  else  could 
readily  have  accomplished  their  particular 
task.  But  who  can  say  this,  with  truth,  of 
BidHOP  Wainweight  ? 


PEOPOSED  MONUMENT — DEAD,    YET   SPEAKING A   GREAT 

ENTEEPEISE  UNDEETAKEN  BY  THOSE  MOST  LIKELY  TO 
ACCOMPLISH  IT — AN  IMPORTANT  CIRCULAR — AN  EARLI- 
ER PERIOD THE  LITTLE  BAND  OF   CHURCHMEN  AT  THE 

"bLEECKER  building" WHAT  THEY  RESOLVED  TO  DO, 

AND  HOW  THEY  KEPT  THEIR  PLEDGE EREE  SEATS  FOE 

ALL BISHOP   WAINWEIGHt's    LAST     CONFIRMATION   IN 

THE  CITY — SPECIAL   EFFORTS   FOR   SECURING  A  CHURCH 

BUILDING THE     RESULT A    GLORIOUS     EASTER — FREE 

FROM  DEBT— CONSECRATION  OF  THE  MEMORIAL  CHURCH 

DR.  morgan's  sermon PLEASANT  INCIDENT A  LIST 

OF  NAMES  WHICH  WILL  BE  OF  INTEREST  HEREAFTER. 

WHEN  the  many  friends  of  Bisliop 
Wainwright  had  recovered,  in  some 
degree,  from  the  shock  occasioned  by  his 
death,  steps  were  speedily  taken  to  show 
honor  to  his  name.  Memorial  windows  and 
monuments  were  proposed,  but  the  measure 
which  seemed  most  desirable,  and  which  was 


166  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WAIN  WEIGHT. 


certainly  most  in  harmony  with  the  character 
of  the  lamented  prelate,  was  that  which  has 
led  to  the  permanent  establishment  of  another 
free  church  in  the  city  of  J^ew  York.  Thus 
will  he  always  be  preaching  the  Gospel  to  the 
poor,  and  ministering  to  the  sick  and  the 
needy  —  a  work  in  which  he  so  much  de- 
lighted. 

This  beautiful  enterprise  was  undertaken 
by  those  who  would  be  most  likely  to  carry 
it  through  in  spite  of  difficulties  and  labors. 
It  was  the  willing  offering  of  woman's  loving 
heart.  I  shall  best  accomplish  my  task  as  a 
historian,  by  inserting  here  the  appropriate 
circular  which  was  issued,  to  set  forth  the 
nature  of  the  work  proposed  : 

To  the  Ladies  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in 
this  Diocese,  sorrowing  with  ourselves,  though  not  mur- 
muring, under  the  inscrutable  dispensation  which  struck 
down,  on  the  field,  and  in  the  midst  of  his  labors  and  his 
usefulness,  our  beloved  friend  and  father  in  God,  Bishop 
Wainwright,  the  undersigned,  members  of  different  par- 
ishes in  the  City  of  New  York,  venture  to  make  appeal 
for  AID,  in  founding  a  Memorial,  which  shall  at  once  at- 


AN    IMPORTANT    CIRCULAR.  16' 


test  and  perpetuate  our  regrets,  and  his  example,  services, 
and  name. 

Among  the  wishes  that  lay  nearest  to  his  heart,  and  to 
the  speedier  accomplishment  of  which  he  gave  his  life, 
was  that  of  spreading  more  widely  our  Church,  its  liturgy, 
and  its  ministry — its  faith,  its  hopes,  and  its  consolations. 
It  is  believed  that  no  more  fitting  or  grateful  memorial  of 
our  deceased  Bishop  could  be  devised  than  in  giving  effect 
to  this  wish  by  building,  in  a  part  of  our  city  most  inad- 
equately provided  in  that  respect,  an  Episcopal  Church, 
of  which  the  seats,  should  forever  be  free.  This  labor  of 
love  and  of  gratitude  the  undersigned  have  undertaken. 
In  order  to  accomplish  it,  they  rely  upon  obtaining  a 
sufficient  number  of  subscriptions  of  five  dollars  per 
annum,  for  three  successive  years  (or  $15,00  in  all),  and 
by  this  circular  they  make  known  their  plan  and  their 
hopes. 

It  is  proposed  to  designate  the  Church  as  that  of  ' '  St. 
John  the  Evangelist,"  and  that  it  be  known  as  "The 
Ladies'  Memorial  of  Bishop  Wainwright, ' '  with  * '  seats 
forever  free." 

It  is  intended  to  build  it  on  the  western  side  of  the 
city,  in  the  vicinity  of  Eighth  Avenue  and  Fourth  Street, 
where  already  is  gathered  a  dense  population,  among 
whom  are  numerous  emigrants  from  Europe,  accustomed 
in  their  own  land  to  the  beautiful  order  and  devotions  of 
our  Church,  and  eager  to  resume  their  connection  with  it, 
if  only  the  opportunity  be  afforded  them. 

Not  doubting  that  this  plain  statement  will  commend 
its  object  to  the  hearts  and  judgments  of  those  to  whom 
we  address  ourselves,  it  remains  only  to  add,  that  sub- 
scriptions may  be  sent  to  the  Treasurer,  Mrs.  Heney  A, 


168 


LIFE    OF   BISHOP   WAINWRIGHT. 


CoiT,  No.  55  Clinton  Place,  or  left  cat  Stanford  &  Swords., 
No.  637  Broadway. 
New  York,  November  \Mh,  1854. 

President,  Mrs.  ALEXANDER  CLINTON,  219  West  Four- 
teenth Street. 

Vice-President,  Mrs.  CHARLES  H.  HALSEY,  9  East 
Eighteenth  Street. 

Secretary,  Mrs.  MARY  E.  BLEECKER,  219  West  Four- 
teenth Street. 

Treamrer,  Mrs.  HENRY  A.  COIT,  55  Clinton  Place. 


Mrs.  J.  T.  Adams, 

"  George  P.  Cammann, 

"  t.  b.  coddington, 

*'  David  Colden, 

"  Charles  De  Rham, 

* '  Lewis  Gregory, 

"  Peter  Hayden, 

' '  Margaret  G.  Hamilton, 

"  F.  U.  Johnston, 

' '  Henry  Laight, 

"  John  R.  Livingston, 

**  Schuyler  Livingston, 

"  Wm.  Lowerre, 

"  MgEvers, 

"  Henry  Meigs, 

"  Robt.  B.  Minturn, 

' '  Henry  Morris, 

"  Lucy  Osborn, 

"  Nicholas  G.  Rutgers, 


Mrs.  Schmidt, 
"     Adam  Stodart, 
"     G.  N.  Titus, 
"     Fanning  C.  Tucker, 
"    Wm.  E.  Wilmerdinq, 
"     Wm.  H.  Wisner, 
Miss  M.  R.  Babcock, 
M.  L.  Bleecker, 
Sarah  Carville, 
Anna  E.  Clinton, 
Mary  E.  Foster, 
Mary  W.  Johnston, 
Henrietta  King, 
Julia  Lawrence, 
Jane  Rowe, 
Susan  K.  Walton, 
Susan  H.  Wendell, 
Catharine  Wilmerdinq, 
Mary  Woolsey. 

Hector,  Rev.  EDWIN  R.   COOK, 

104  Twelfth  Street. 


THE    LITTLE    BxiND    OF    CnUECHMEN.       1G9 


I  must  beg  my  readers  to  go  back  with  me 
now  to  a  period  somewhat  earlier  than  the 
date  of  this  circular. 

On  the  sixth  of  June,  1853,  a  small  band 
of  Churchmen  met  in  an  upper  room  of  what 
is  known  as  the  "  Bleecker  Building,"  and  or- 
.  ganized  a  parish,  designed  to  provide  for  the 
spiritual  wants  of  a  portion  of  the  western 
side  of  the  city  of  l^ew  York.  The  Eev. 
Edwin  R.  T.  Cook,  now  the  devoted  rector 
of  the  Memorial  Church,  presided  on  the 
occasion,  and  was  afterwards  called  to  the 
pastoral  charge. 

The  undertaking  met  with  the  hearty  ap- 
proval of  Bishop  Wainwright.  There,  in  that 
upper  room,  regular  service  was  held,  and 
the  seats  being  free,  a  congregation  was  soon 
gathered. 

During  the  General  Convention  of  1853 
(which  met  in  New  York),  a  number  of  the 
Bishops  and  Clergy  took  their  turn  in  preach- 
ing in  this  place,  and  the  zealous  rector,  who 

15 


170  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WAINWEIGHT. 


had  from  the  first  kept  the  project  of  build- 
ing a  church  in  view,  began  to  make  collec- 
tions for  this  end. 

It  is  a  fact  worth  recording,  that  the  last 
time  that  Bishop  Wainwright  administered 
Confirmation  in  the  city,  it  was  in  that  upper 
room,  when  twenty-two  persons  received  his 
blessing.  He  preached  with  even  greatei 
fervor  than  usual,  as  though. he  realized  that 
he  was  soon  to  depart  from  earth.  Among 
those  confirmed,  on  the  occasion,  was  a  lady 
advanced  in  years,  who  seemed  especially  to 
attract  the  Bishop's  notice.  Bowed  down 
with  infirmity,  and  apparently  on  the  very 
border  of  the  grave,  she  came  forward  with 
the  rest  to  receive  the  blessing  so  precious  to 
the  soul.  During  the  summelp  of  1854,  spe- 
cial efforts  were  made  by  the  rector  and  tlie 
more  devoted  members  of  his  charge  to  carry 
out  their  original  plan  of  securing  a  suitable 
place  for  public  worship — a  house  of  prayer 
free  to  all  people. 


EFFORTS    FOR    SECURING    A    CHURCH.       171 


Meanwliile,  Bishop  Wainwright  died.  And 
then,  in  due  time,  the  whole  business  assumed 
the  shape  as  explained  in  the  circular  copied 
on  a  former  page.  It  was  resolved  that  this 
new  church  should  be  the  Bishop's  monument. 

Services  were  held  in  the  "  Bleecker  Build- 
ing" for  two  years,  when  the  congregation 
removed  to  the  lecture-room  of  the  Metro- 
politan Academy,  where  they  continued  to 
worship  for  a  year. 

The  ladies  who  had  undertaken  the  task 
of  raising  funds  kept  steadily  at  work,  until 
(including  about  twelve  hundred  dollars  se- 
cured before)  ten  thousand  dollars  had  been 
subscribed. 

About  this  time,  a  place  of  worship  which 
had  been  built  by  the  Presbyterians,  and  af- 
terwards sold  in  succession  to  the  Congrega- 
tionalists  and  Baptists,  was  offered  to  the 
new  parish  on  very  reasonable  .terms.  The 
bargain  was  made,  the  church,  with  neces- 
sary alterations,  costing  $33,000.      ^ 


172  LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WAINWKIGHT. 


Upon  their  removal  to  the  new  and  larger 
place  of  worship-  the  good  rector  was  fearful 
lest  the  congregation  should  be  lost,  as  it 
were,  in  so  commodious  a  place ;  but  he  was 
too  faithful  a  pastor  to  allow  such  a  thing  to 
happen.  A  clergyman  who  visits  his  people 
faithfully,  and  is  not  above  going  aside  into 
narrow  and  crooked  streets,  will  never  be 
left  alone  at  church.  The  new  place  of  wor- 
ship was  filled  at  once. 

The  Sunday  School  and  Bible  Class  and 
the  Ladies'  Sewing  Circle  were  all  in  active 
operation.  The  Memorial  Church  soon 
Ihowed  that  it  would  be  no  failure. 

But  where  is  that  great  debt  of  $33,000  ? 

On  Easter  morning,  1858,  a  collection  was 
made  which  (in  addition  to  the  sums  previ- 
ously secured)  cleared  oif  the  heavy  load,  and 
at  the  close  of  the  service  the  indefatigable 
rector  announced,  with  evident  emotion,  that 
the  Memorial  Church  was  free  from  all  em- 
barrassment. 


CONSECRATION   OF   MEMORIAL   CHURCH.    173 


After  evening  prayer,  on  the  same  day, 
Bishop  Potter  confirmed  eighty-seven  persons, 
most  of  whom  were  of  middle  age  or  ad- 
vanced in  years. 

And  now  everything  being  ready  for  the 
glad  event,  the  Church  of  St.  John  the  Evan- 
gelist— Bishop  Wainwright's  fitting  monu- 
ment— was  consecrated  to  the  worship  of  Al- 
mighty God,  on  the  12th  of  April,  1858. 
A  very  large  congregation  attended,  and 
about  forty  clergymen,  in  their  robes,  show- 
ed their  interest  in  the  enterprise,  the  Rev. 
Drs.  Turner,  Muhlenberg,  Price,  Johnson, 
Bedell,  Yan  Kleeck,  and  others,  taking  part 
in  the  service.  The  act  of  consecration  was 
performed  by  the  Provisional  Bishop  of  ^New 
York. 

The  sermon — a  very  able  and  appropriate 
one — was  preached  by  Dr.  Morgan,  of  St. 
Thomas'  Church.  We  ofier  no  apology  for 
giving  a  report  of  it  here. 

" '  And  I  saw  no  temple  therein ;  for  the 
15* 


174  LIFE   OF   BISHOP    WAINWRIGHT. 


Lord  God  Almiglity  and  the  Lamb  are  the 
temple  of  it.' — Rev.  xxi.  22.  'And  Jesus 
went  into  the  temple  and  overthrew  the 
tables  of  the  money-changers,  and  would  not 
suffer  that  any  man  should  carry  any  vessel 
through  the  temple.'  —  Mark  xi.  15,  16. 
The  former  part  of  this  discourse  related  par- 
ticularly to  the  sacredness  and  the  uses  of 
Christian  temples,  set  apart  exclusively  for 
the  worship  of  Almighty  God.  The  Rev.  Doc- 
tor argued  that  such  temples  are  absolutely 
essential  to  religious  faith  and  religious  im- 
provement; he  claimed  that  the  necessity 
for  them  would  not  exist  if  it  were  not  for 
man's  guilt ;  he  described  them  as  the  truest 
symbols  on  earth,  both  of  man's  present  in- 
firmity and  his  anticipated  glory,  and  as  con- 
tinual reminders  to  him,  not  only  of  his  sins, 
but  also  of  his  hopes  beyond  this  life  ;  and 
he  urged  that,  being  significant  of  the  one 
temple  of  the  Lord  God  Almighty  and  the 
Lamb,  they  were  worthy  of  suitable  adorn- 


DR.  morgan's  sermon.  175 


ment  and  reverential  care.  The  latter  por- 
tion of  the  discourse,  which  had  special  refer- 
ence to  the  occasion,  contained  so  much  that 
is  of  general  interest  among  our  readers,  and 
possessed  so  much  merit  in  other  respects, 
that  we  have  reported  it  almost  entire  : 

"Dear  friends,  let  me  cease  from  these 
general  observations.  I  know  how  entirely 
your  own  convictions  will  accord  with  their 
justness  and  their  truth.  This  allusion,  how- 
ever, to  the  warm  and  generous-hearted  Mary 
reminds  me  that  general  thoughts,  however 
well  considered,  fall  short  of  this  occasion. 

"  The  consecration  of  your  church — may  I 
not  rather  say  of  our  church  ?  for  we  all  have 
a  property  in  it — is  something  apart  from  or- 
dinary solemnities  of  the  kind.  Other  church- 
es are  consecrated  because  the  cap-stone  has 
been  '  brought  with  shoutings,'  and  they  stand 
complete,  ready  for  the  Master's  use  ;  but 
this  beautiful  sanctuary,  now  and  henceforth 
separated  to  the  worship  of  the  Triune  God, 


176  LIFE   OF   BISHOP    WAIN  WRIGHT. 


has  its  own  history  registered  through  many 
years,  and  its  own  peculiar  and  more  recent 
reminiscences  of  love,  and  faith,  and  unparal- 
leled devotion.  When  its  corner-stone  was 
laid,  other  hearts  and  other  interests  were  en- 
gaged, and  probably  no  thought  was  so  for- 
eign to  that  hour  as  a  holy  convocation,  and 
a  dedication  day  like  this.  But  God  reserves 
to  Himself  the  issues  of  all  our  mortal  under- 
takings. It  became — for  I  shall  not  speak  of 
its  earlier  occupancy — in  the  wise  and  inscru- 
table providence  of  God,  it  became  a  memo- 
rial church.  After  much  deliberation  and 
many  prayers  for  guidance,  it  was  selected 
and  transfigured  as  a  fitting  shrine  for  the 
memory  of  the  dead  and  the  spiritual  benefit 
of  the  living.  The  memory  of  the  dead! 
Dear  fathers  and  brethren,  dear  people  of 
this  flock,  it  is  not  for  me,  a  stranger  among 
you,  as  it  were — it  is  not  for  me,  who  joined 
the  ranks  after  your  noble  leader  had  fallen 
and  was  entombed — it  is  not  for  m^  to  tell 


DK.    morgan's    sermon.  177 


you  what  he  was,  or  why  he  deserved  to  be 
enshrined  among  the  living,  after  he  had  ta- 
ken his  place  among  the  elect  of  God  in  Par- 
adise. And  the  zealous  pastor  of  this  church 
will  testify  how  reluctantly  I  yielded  to  his 
request  when  he  urged  me  to  stand  up  and 
speak  in  this  place  to-day.  It  was  too  high 
a  privilege  and  too  great  an  honor  for  me, 
and  I  shrank  from  the  sacred  office.  One 
thought  only  weakened  my  denial.  He 
whose  beloved  name  is  written  upon  this 
temple,  he  whose  virtues,  whose  faithful  la- 
bors, whose  endurance  unto  death,  are  record- 
ed here,  was  my  first  pastor.  Your  preacher 
was  an  infant  in  the  cradle  when  Wainwright 
read  from  the  desk  and  preached  from  the 
pulpit  of  his  native  city — read  and  preached 
so  that  both  his  reading  and  preaching  be- 
came traditional  henceforth.  In  that  city, 
dear  to  me  as  my  birth-place,  and  dearer  as 
the  burial-place  of  my  kindred,  and  the  spot 
where  I  hope  to  sleep  at  last,  he,  the  good 


178  LIFE    OF   BISHOP    WAINWRIGIIT. 


shepherd,  went  in  and  out  among  the  people, 
'  gathered  the  lambs  in  his  arms  and  carried 
them  in  his  bosom.'  There  he  was  a  Deacon 
in  his  first  parish,  and,  as  was  truly  said  by  the 
excellent  Bishop  of  E^ew  Jersey,  in  the  mem- 
oir, '  It  was  his  first  love,  and  he  was  entire- 
ly happy  in  it.  There  he  met,  and  was  join- 
ed to  his  life-companion,  and  there  the  light 
of  human  endearment  came  in  upon  his 
heart  to  brighten  and  to  sanctify  it.'  After 
the  lapse  of  thirty-six  years  I  only  speak  of 
him  as  the  pastor  of  my  childhood  ;  but  you 
have  known  him  throughout  the  interspace 
of  time,  and  the  Church  on  this  continent,  to 
her  farthest  border,  and  the  Mother  Churcli 
of  England,  have  known  and  honored  "him  as 
a  Presbyter  most  faithful,  earnest,  accom- 
plished ;  as  a  Bishop  who,  from  the  moment 
he  grasped  the  pastoral  staff,  determined  to 
know  nothing  but  Jesus  Christ  and  the 
Church  of  his  blood-bought  Redeemer.  He 
had  always  been  marked,  always  sought  after, 


DR.  morgan's  sermon.  '  179 


filwajs  eminent ;  but  when  he  rose  from  liis 
knees  a  Bishop,  he  had  received,  it  would  al- 
most seem,  a  fresh  anointing.  The  prints 
of  the  Crucified  were  more  plainly  upon  him, 
and  onward  he  went  to  do  his  work,  as  Peter 
Avent  from  Bethany  on  the  Ascension  morn- 
ing, and  Paul  from  Damascus,  when  the 
scales  had  fallen  from  his  eyes.  Xor  did  he 
pause  until,  with  appointments  not  yet  over- 
taken and  high  Episcopal  engagements 
crowding  every  present  hour,  he  was  sum- 
moned to  yield  up  his  trust  and  lie  down  and 
die.  Submissive  to  the  inexorable  call,  he 
rested  from  his  labors  as  a  racer  might 
rest  when  suddenly  hurled  backward  on  his 
rapid  course,  stunned,  unconscious,  delirious, 
dead.  So  he  slept  in  Jesus  with  his  armor 
on.  A  few  watched  his  last  and  quivering 
breath.  Then  came  desolation  to  his  hearth- 
stone, and  bitter  lamentation  to  his  diocese. 
Above  his  soulless  effigy,  above  '  the  dull, 
cold  ear  of  death,'  was  poured  the  eloquence 


ISO  LIFE    OF   BISHOP   WAINWKIGHT. 


of  fraternal  love  and  grief,  fervent  as  the  la- 
ment of  David  over  his  brother  Jonathan,  on 
the  mountain  of  Gilboa.  But  time,  more 
than  eulogies  or  dirges,  is  the  beaiitifier  of 
the  dead ;  and  hence  this  holy  temple  !  The 
valiant  Bishop,  among  a  thousand  tributes  of 
full-hearted  respect  and  veneration,  hath  this 
for  his  enduring  memorial.  Those  who  loved 
the  Saviour  most,  and  were  ever  glad  to  wash 
and  kiss  His  feet — those  who  clung  to  Him 
weeping,  while  the  disciples  fled — those  who 
sank  in  speechless  agony  around  the  cross 
while  His  life  was  wasted — those  who  heard 
His  last  expiring  groau,  and  went  first  to 
meet  Him  when  angels  rolled  away  the  stone 
— those,  or  such  as  those,  their  sisters  now  at 
a  later  period,  have  here  embalmed  the 
memory  of  Christ's  faithful  soldier  and  serv- 
ant with  the  sweet  spicery  of  their  love,  their 
untiring  zeal,  their  unceasing  prayers,  their 
pious  labors.  It  is  the  ladies'  memorial — the 
offering  of  their  hearts.     Accept  it,  Lord. 


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